Limitations and Exceptions and the Problem of Infringement on Copyright: A Case Study of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Abstract

Exception and Limitations to copyright constitute a notion that lies at the very heart of the national legislation and international legislation. While copyright corresponds to a monopoly that society grants to authors over their creative work, exception and limitations to these exclusive rights appear to be a form of justification, allowing individuals, under certain conditions, to use a work without requiring authorization from the owner of the copyright, this is because there is always the need to balance the interest of the author and that of the society and as such countries makes exceptions to some situations where authors work can be used without necessarily asking for their authorization. However, there is always the issue of infringement on copyright due to the fact that some individuals and organizations abuse the exceptions and limitations and this always creates misunderstanding hence the purpose of this article. The article, therefore, gives and overview of exceptions and limitations in Myanmar copyright law and present some instances of abuse of this exception which constitute infringement. It finally presents some remedies to the situation and makes some recommendations on the way forward.   The research methodology adopted for the study is the qualitative approach and thus the study mainly relied on secondary sources of information such as documents from the internet, journal articles, policy documents as well as all other important reading materials such as the dailies, press releases, news items and official reports. The research concludes that adopting the licenses agreement system, setting up an independent tribunal to deal with copyright issues, adopting the fair use or free use principles, establishing of copyright managing body and by embarking on massive education and sensitization of the Myanmar people on copyright-related issues will be the best ways in dealing with the problem of infringement as far as copyright issue are concerned.