Whether or not to Standardize the Reasonable Scope of Book Copying? It Should be Determined Case by Case, Says the Teachers.　Reasonable Scope Is an Obscure Definition, Says the Copyright Owners.

　Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) on March 15, 2005 invited copyright owners and relevant communities to attend a symposium for the draft agreement on “reasonable scope of books copying” by educational institutions, such as libraries and all levels of schools. Most representatives of libraries and teachers urged that the reasonable scope of books copying should be determined case by case instead of by a general agreement, which presents a disagreement with the standpoint held by the copyright owners. For such different stands, IPO decided to review the opinions contributed from all sides.

 

  The emphasis of the draft “Agreement on Reproduction of a Work within the Scope of Fair Use in the Method of Photocopy in Libraries and Other Cultural Institutions” is that cultural institutions, such as libraries, may reproduce works in their collections by photocopy where a patron requests reproduction of a part of a work (10% of the total page number of such work as a maximum) that has been publicly released for the patron’s personal research purpose according to Paragraph 1, Article 48 of the Copyright Law.

 

  On the other hand, the draft agreement on “reasonable scope of books copying necessary for the purpose of teaching in all levels of legally established schools” mainly stipulates the issue of teachers’ educational materials copying in schools according to Article 46 of the Copyright Law, and this draft agreement regulates copying by teachers rather than by students. (2005.3)

CYJ/CCS