Copyright for education: a case study of Palestine

Palestine is a poor and disrupted territory and education is vital to its future prosperity and wellbeing. Copyright—which regulates access to information—can at times have a negative effect on education; even more so in least developed countries like Palestine. The aim of this thesis is to explain how copyright and education can function more effectively in the Palestinian context to bring about transformational change and meaningful development.

To this end, the thesis (after explaining the Palestinian legal and social context) highlights the common ground between copyright and education and challenges them to work together, rather than against each other. It analyses copyright law in Palestine and how it might be reformed to provide better educational outcomes. Acknowledging that law reform is difficult to achieve, the thesis suggests that a more pragmatic and viable option is to employ strategic copyright management, or what is known as voluntary mechanisms (meaning the copyright owner agrees for various reasons to their material being shared through open access). In outlining this option the thesis provides a detailed roadmap for how Palestine can reap the rewards of voluntary mechanisms.