Foreign Policy: Liberian Law...Or Lack Thereof

When you go into a court room, it is customary to assume that the lawyers and the judges inside will know what they are doing. There would be no doubt in any one's mind that they are thoroughly learned in all the laws of the United States. This holds true in a lot of places, but not in Liberia.

In Liberia, a man by the name of Philip Banks holds the copyright for the only full volume of the country's laws and legal codes. Banks, along with a small team of lawyers, compiled all of the country's newest laws into one volume. This volume has been copied only a few times, and given out in only rural areas. Aside from the volume that Banks has, the laws have essentially been lost. Due to the lack of law knowledge around the rest of the country, judges have been making decisions off of 2o year old laws that are owned by the government and hardly make sense anymore. Banks knows this is a problem, but he sees his volume full of laws as his original property. He says that without his works, the laws would be gone forever. Banks contends that the only reason why he has the copyright in the first place is because the government refused to give him enough money to fuel his project. Now he refuses to give the copyright to the Liberian government because he believes he should be compensated.

This article now begs the question of whether or not it is more important to donate the results of your hard work to where they are needed, or to be fairly compensated. Apparently, Banks thinks that its more important to be compensated for his work. However, I believe that in keeping the volume and copyright to himself, he is keeping the laws from the country where they are needed. All Banks wanted to do in the first place was make sure that the laws were safe from being lost, but in hoarding the copyright to himself, he is causing the same affect. Laws are made for the people so that there is justice found in every situation. Justice does no good when it is kept to a single person, and that is just what Banks is doing. This article teaches a lesson to all and that lesson is that sometimes it is more important to donate your work so that it makes a difference, even if it means that you wont be payed.