A license of reproduction shall be granted after the expiration of one of the following relevant
periods commencing on the date of first publication of a particular edition of the work:
1° for works of the natural and physical sciences and of technology, the period shall be three
(3) years;
2° for works of fiction, poetry, drama and music, and for art books, the period shall be seven
(7) years;
3° for all other works, the period shall be five (5) years.
Where after any period referred to in paragraph two (2) of this article, copies of an edition
have not been distributed in Rwanda, by the owner of the right of reproduction or with his
authorization, at a price reasonably related to that normally charged for comparable works,
any person may obtain a license to reproduce and publish such edition at that or a lower price.
A license to reproduce and publish an edition which has been distributed may also be granted
if, after the expiration of the period referred to in paragraph two (2) of this article, no
authorized copies of that edition have been on sale for a period of six (6) months at a price
reasonably related to that normally charged for comparable works.
Any license under this article shall be granted only for the purpose of general public interest,
university teaching or in connection with systematic instructional activities.
Article 241: Criteria of granting a reproduction license
A license under the article 240 may be granted only if:
1° the applicant establishes either that he has requested, and has been denied, authorization
by the owner of the right to make and publish the translation or that, after due diligence on
his or her part, he was unable to find the owner of the right;
2° at the same time as making the request the owner of the right cannot be found, the
applicant for a license sent, by registered mail, copies of his or her application submitted
to the right holder, to the Minister in charge culture, to the empowered authority and to the
publisher whose name appears on the work.
No license obtainable after period referred to in paragraph two (2) shall be granted for
reproduction under the article 240 until a further period of six (6) months has elapsed. If,
during six (6) months after the said period, distribution of copies of work was made by the
owner of the right of translation or with his or her authorization, no license under this Article
shall be granted.
If copies of an edition of a work are distributed by the owner of the right of reproduction or
with his or her authorization, at a price reasonably related to that normally charged for
comparable works, any license granted under this article shall terminate. In such case, any
copies already made before the license terminates may continue to be distributed until their
stock is exhausted.
No license shall be granted under this article if the author has withdrawn from circulation all