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Includes abstract. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; This thesis looks at how to achieve a fair copyright balance from the perspective of developing countries. The thesis examines the international legal framework which developing countries such as South Africa have to respect. It analyses the flexibilities in this framework and, in particular, copyright exceptions and limitations. These flexibilities are important because they allow domestic lawmakers to develop countryspecific domestic copyright legislation. The thesis then goes on to discuss why getting the right balance between protecting copyright and giving adequate access to knowledge material is of particular concern for developing countries. As part of this discussion, the thesis looks at the impact of digital technologies on copyright law in general and for the copyright balance in particular.

South Africa is the world's 25th-largest country by surface area, and 24th-largest by population. It is located at the southernmost region of Africa and divided into nine provinces: Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape. South Africa's colonial past dates to the 16th century. Slavery was widespread by the 17th century and was not abolished until the mid-19th century. Racial discrimination was rampant during the apartheid era between 1948-94, when South Africa was governed by the National Party. After protracted negotiations, the first democratic elections were held under an Interim Constitution in 1994. This negotiated transition from apartheid to democracy has been hailed as both 'one of the most astonishing political achievements of our time' and 'a miracle'. Since 1994 the government has been led by the African National Congress (ANC), which won democratic elections in 1999, 2004 and 2009. Since 1994 the government has pursued democratisation, socioeconomic change and reconciliation.

Final research report of the "Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments" project, which formed part of the World Wide Web Foundation's "Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries" Phase 2 initiative. In order to address the principle question of whether open data practice is being embedded, the project undertook a comparison of government open data in South Africa and Kenya, with a particular focus on open licensing as a key indicator of openness.

Open data practice is gaining momentum in the public sector and civil society as an important mechanism for sharing information, aiding transparency, and promoting socio-economic development. Within this context, licensing is a key legal mechanism that enables re-use without sanction. However, there is evidence of a "licensing deficit" and this raises questions regarding best practice and sustainability in emerging African open data initiatives, particularly in the context of intermediaries being encouraged to exploit shared data for economic and social benefit. This article asks two main questions: (1) What is the current state of open licensing in two African open data initiatives; and (2) to what degree is it appropriate to focus on licensing as a key indicator of openness? Utilising a case study approach, the research explored licensing dynamics in the Kenya Open Data and the City of Cape Town Open Data initiatives, examining the contexts in which these initiatives were established and their resulting licensing frameworks. The cases reveal evidence of strategic engagement with content licensing, driven largely by the need for legal protection, adherence to international best practice and attraction of the user base required in order to ensure sustainability. The application of licensing systems in both contexts does, however, suggest an emerging system in which data providers are "learning by doing" and evolving their licensing practice as portals and their associated policy frameworks mature. The paper discusses the value of open data licensing as an indicator of organisational change and concomitant importance of taking into consideration the institutional dynamics when evaluating the organisational licensing frameworks of city, national and other governments.

The emergence of the Internet and the digital world has changed the way people access, produce and share information and knowledge. Yet people in Africa face challenges in accessing scholarly publications, journals and learning materials in general. At the heart of these challenges, and solutions to them, is copyright, the branch of intellectual property rights that covers written and related works. This book offers an understanding of the legal and practical issues posed by copyright for access to learning materials in Africa, and identifies the relevant lessons, best policies and best practices that would broaden and deepen this access. This book is based on the work of the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) research network, launched in late 2007 as a network of researchers committed to probing the relationship between copyright and learning materials access in eight African countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.