A Cobweb of Exception to Copyright Law for Research Purposes

Access to copyrighted materials and resources for research purposes have been increasingly conducted across borders. In certain circumstances, access to copyright materials that may be needed for research purposes may be restricted due to copyright law. International copyright conventions do provide exceptions to copyright law for research purposes as what has been generally covered under the ‘three step test’. However, this rule may be interpreted either narrowly or flexibly by member countries, which leads to different countries adapting different laws pertaining to it. This paper analyses the Malaysian copyright provision relating to copyright exceptions that may be used for research purposes and its recent amendments made in 2012 as compared to Australia and the United Kingdom provisions. This paper will discuss the implications of the recent amendment and further explains the future direction researchers could take to ensure the legality of their actions when using copyrighted materials for research purposes