The President of the Republic of Belarus signed the Law of the Republic of Belarus of 17 May 2011 No. 262-3 (on copyright and Related Rights), which was adopted by the National Assembly on April 28, 2011.
The law was officially published on May 30, 2011 and, according to Article 61 of the law, it shall come into force six months after its official publication (i.e. November 30, 2011). Article 59 of the new law provides for the repeal of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 16, 1996 No. 370-XIII on copyright and Related Rights.
The new law regulates relations arising from the creation and use of works of science, such as books, articles, reports, scientific lectures, theses, literature and art (copyright), as well as performances, phonograms and broadcasting (related rights).
Chapter IV on “Cases of free use of objects of copyright and related rights”, regulates such issues as the free use of works in mass media (Article 33), reproduction of works for the blind and visually impaired persons (Article 34), and the free use of works by libraries and archives (Article 37).