COMPLETION REPORT
Sustaining Open Educational Resources Initiatives for Higher Education: Comparison between Japan andMalaysia
Dr. Ratnaria Binti Wahid (+2)
Senior Lecturer
International Affairs Department, School of International Studies, UUM College of Low,
Government and International studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational resources that can be retained, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute,thereby enhancing learning environment beyond borders. OER serves as a sustainable development model for developing
quality learning resources and assuring the quality of education around the globe. Copyright law is one of the important
challenges for OER thereby hampering initiatives towards achieving SDG 4 in respect of access to quality education. This
study undertakes a legal and policy analysis on OER development in Japanese and Malaysian higher education institutions.
Japan is one of the early adopters of OER whilst having affordable textbooks and self-sustainable in its open education
activities while Malaysia is relatively new to OER. This study specifically looks into the OER development and to what
extent copyright policies of each countries support OER initiatives, particularly focusing on the law that applies to third
party materials used in OER. Utilizing a qualitative research method, the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987 and Japanese
Copyright Law 1970 were examined. An extensive literature reviews and in-depth interviews with experts and respondents
from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Tokyo University, Osaka
University and Hiroshima City University were conducted.

Findings showed that Japan, being a developed country, superior in technology and mainly exporters of intellectual
property, possess a much stricter copyright law governing use of works for education as compared to Malaysia. Malaysia,
being a rising economy and mainly importers of intellectual property, has more exceptions that may be relied on whenusing works for teaching purposes. However, these copyright exceptions may be difficult to apply in digital context.
Japan and Malaysia thus have a similar copyright challenges when sharing digital works. Content creators in both countries
face difficulties in interpreting and clearing copyright permission when creating works. Japan OER creators diligently seek
copyright permission or use creative common works while Malaysian mainly use non-copyrighted work affecting thequality of OER produced. Changing local copyright law towards a friendlier and accommodating to OER initiatives canbe averse to international copyright policies that is increasingly protecting right holders works. Copyright law thus, has along way to go before it can be harmonize with OER initiatives whilst open licenses is becoming a popular option. The
movement for a more “open” attitude that can be instilled among individuals and institutions, encouraging wider use andreuse of open content as well as having a good knowledge of copyright law may pave some way for sustaining the futureof OER in higher education.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
31 January – 1 February 2019, Ahmad Ibrahim Kuliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia,
The First Intellectual Property & Innovation Researchers of Asia Conference, Considering Copyright Law inOpen Educational Resources Development, Ratnaria Wahid.
Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
Journal of International Studies (JIS), Vol. 14, 2018, A Clog on the Right to Quality Education through OER: ACase of Japan and Malaysia, Ratnaria Wahid, Khaliza Saidin & Nurhaizal Azam Arif.
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)