Knowledge of students of the exceptions and limitations clause in copyright administration in academic libraries in Ghana

Abstract

Copyright exceptions and limitations, which allow information consumers the right to use copyrighted materials without necessarily obtaining permission from or payment to the rightsholder, promote advances in the arts and sciences. Poor knowledge of copyright laws results in improper use of copyrighted materials. However, the extent to which academic library users in Ghana know about the exceptions and limitations, as well as their understanding of permissible use of information in the Copyright Act 690, 2005 of Ghana are not known. The sequential mixed methods approach was employed to collect data from 530 postgraduate students from two public and two private universities in Ghana to assess their knowledge of copyright exceptions and limitations, as well as their understanding of permissible use of information in Copyright Act 690, 2005 whilst using the services of their libraries. The study shows that students were poorly knowledgeable about the various applications of the exceptions and limitations clause in the copyright laws of Ghana: students were either indifferent (i.e. ‘neutral’), or ‘disagree’, and ‘strongly disagree’ on whether the Copyright Act 690, 2005 had clauses on exceptions and limitations on various uses of information such as for ‘Private copying’, for ‘Quotations’ or ‘For the benefit of persons with disability’. Over 50% of respondents were not sure that the copyright laws of Ghana had provisions for permissible use of information. Age and gender of respondent significantly influenced these responses: older students 46 years and above, and females, were more knowledgeable compared to younger students and males respectively about exceptions and limitations for ‘Private copying’, and ‘For the benefit of people with disability’ in the copyright laws of Ghana. Policymakers in Ghana should therefore adopt youth- and gender-focus strategies in copyright education for efficient administration of copyright laws in academic libraries.