On May 8, Professor Sean Flynn will release the latest PIJIP report – The User Rights Database: Measuring the Impact of Copyright Balance at a public lecture at University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The report is being released as the South Africa Parliament deliberates on a copyright amendment bill that includes a proposal to adopt a new open and flexible general exception modeled on the U.S. fair use clause.

The report finds:

  • More open user rights environments are associated with higher firm revenues in information industries, including software, and computer systems design.
  • More open user rights environments are not associated with harm to industries known to rely upon copyright protection, such as publishing and entertainment.
  • Researchers in countries with more open user rights environments produce more scholarly output and more high-quality output