Copyright and Intellectual Property

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use for a limited time. For Rwandas Copyrigt Policy Please follow this link: Rwanda Copyright Policy.

WIPO is the global forum for Intellectual Property services policy, information and cooperation.

Copyright law aims at creating a reasonable balance between the creator’s need for protection and the user’s need for access. The legal protection of the author is therefore balanced by exceptions and limitations for the common good. However, the publishing houses have been requiring a transfer of copyright to the publisher thus  transforming the author’s intellectual property into the publisher’s material asset which leads to that publishers gaining and authors losing control of access and of use.

URLS seeks to assist academic staff withunderstanding publisher agreements and the rights they can grant to publishers.