Implications of Copyright Laws on Free Access to Information

This book is based on an analysis of the impact of current copyright laws on free access to knowledge and information on cyberspace. The objective of the study is to strike a balance between the right of a copyright holder and that of public interest in accessing knowledge and information on cyberspace, that is, whether copyright laws sufficiently provide a just balance between the conflicting interest and impact of this conflict on development in health and the economy.The research methodology employed in this study is basically descriptive and analytical focusing on primary and secondary sources of data. The theoretical framework on which this work solely rests is the natural law/natural rights theory which justified copyright as a natural right exercisable by the copyright holder, that is, whoever expended sufficient effort in creating an intellectual labour or work is entitled to the exclusive rights to control or prohibition of their use. However, according to Locke one may only appropriate property in this fashion if the Lockean proviso held true, that is "... there is enough and as good, left in common for others.