Xerox Makes Everybody a Publisher: Problems of Book Photocopying and Ways to Control it in Malaysia

Photocopying of reading materials, especially from holdings in libraries is common practice among Malaysian university students. It is unusual to find a student not making photocopies from books or journals. Photocopying machines are easily found in the campus, especially in the libraries with full cooperation from the machine operators. This article will discuss the copyright law in Malaysia with regard to photocopying practices, especially on the controversial term of “fair use” or “fair dealing” as stated in the act. The second part relates to the main findings from a survey conducted in 2009 about photocopying among university students, and the last part provide alternatives available to publishers on ways to control and to overcome this problem.