From 20 to 27 April 2026, the research retreat titled “Enabling Knowledge – New Directions for Copyright and Library Law in Sri Lanka” took place. The event is part of the research project “Digital Access to Library Content – Legal Frameworks in Germany and Sri Lanka”, undertaken by the Centre for Advanced Study.

The workshop addressed how legal frameworks can be designed to sustainably secure access to knowledge and cultural heritage in the digital age. The focus was, on the one hand, on a discussion of the exceptions in Sri Lanka’s copyright law (Sections 11 and 12 of the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003) and the question of how the provisions on “fair use” set out in this Act should be updated in light of the new possibilities for accessing cultural goods via digital media; on the other hand, the development of a proposal for a library law in Sri Lanka that draws on international experience and combines it with the country’s specific legal and social conditions.

At the same time, Sri Lankan copyright law was examined: With regard to supporting research and education, where is there room for improvement? And how do current regulations affect the work of libraries and other cultural memory institutions? These questions were discussed in light of developments in European and German copyright law over the past fifteen years and complemented by specifically Sri Lankan perspectives on an appropriate legal framework for digital access. The workshop aimed to produce well-founded discussion papers to support both academic exchange and future policy debates in Sri Lanka. In addition to a model library law, proposals for a more access-friendly reform of copyright law were developed.

Participants included legal scholars as well as experts in political science and library and information science from Sri Lanka and Germany, complemented by philosophical perspectives on the normative and ethical dimensions of access in the digital era.