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Not The African Copyright Pirate Is Perverse, But The Situation In Which (S)He Lives-Textbooks For Education, Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations, And Constitutionalization "From Below" In Ip Law, Klaus Beiter

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Printed textbooks remain crucial for education, particularly in developing countries. However, in many of these countries, textbooks are unavailable, too expensive, or not accessible in learners’ native tongues. Digital content, for many reasons, does not prove a wondrous solution. Cheaply (translating and) reproducing textbooks would be a strategy. However, reprography is highly regulated under copyright law. Copyright also adds to the cost of textbooks. The availability, accessibility, and acceptability of learning materials constitute essential elements of the right to education under international human rights law.

Intellectual property (IP) law has so far refrained from endorsing the concept of extraterritorial state …