In 2017, Laos updated its copyright law. The new law, which replaced a previous law adopted in 2011, came into effect in June 2018.

EIFL reviewed the new copyright law against EIFL’s ‘Core Library Exceptions Checklist’, that sets out provisions that every copyright law should have to support modern library activities and services. In the review findings, the law scored relatively low (38%) in EIFL’s scorecard ‘Rate my copyright law’ because, in many instances, basic library activities are not allowed, or it is unclear whether an activity is lawful.

In the face of these ambiguities, EIFL recommends a specific exception for libraries, in line with international developments and best practices, to support library activities and services for the benefit of education, research and development.