IPO Drew Up Draft Amendment to Limit the Photocopy Number of the Collections in Libraries to 10% of the Total Pages of a Work as the Maximum.

In accordance with 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” drawn up by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan, cultural institutions, such as libraries, may allow the patron to reproduce part of their works of collections, for personal research purposes, by the method of photocopy within the maximum 10% of the total page number of a work.

In compliance with the regulation provided by paragraph 3 and 4 of Article 65 of the Copyright Law, which was amended and promulgated on July 9, 2003, “Where the copyright owner organization and the exploiter organization have formed an agreement on the scope of the fair use of a work (defined in Article 48 of the same Law), it may be taken as reference in the determination referred to in the preceding paragraph.” Also, “In the course of forming an agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph, advice may be sought from the specialized agency in charge of copyright matters.” Such mechanism of agreement between the copyright owner and the exploiter can clarify the scope of fair use of a work and also decrease the risk of use.

CYJ/CCS