Copyright Office to Protect works of Artistes
By Ismaila M.S. Naban for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show
Until
recently, Gambian artistes didn’t have strong legal mechanisms to
protect their works. Most artistes could not gain much monetary benefits
from their songs as their songs are most often than not, pirated and
sold before their albums are released. By the time their tracks are out,
many people already have it in their phones or on pirated cassettes
playing it at home, and hence, the albums laid there unsold. This trend
has severely affected the development of music in the West African
nation of less than 2 million people.
But
the Copyright Office under the Gambia’s National Centre for Arts and
Culture, is striving to protect musicians and their works, and other
works that fall under the copyright law of the country.
The
Office has issued a statement inviting the general public, especially
owners of Copyright works to come and voluntarily register their works
as per section 49 and 4 of the 2004 Copyright Act and other legal
instruments at both domestic and international level.
The
board of directors of National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) as
per section 56 of the cited Act, appointed a Copyright Officer assigned
among other things: to administer and preside over enforcement of the
2004 Copyright Act and the 2018 Copyright Regulations without
reservation
to
monitor and coordinate Gambia’s compliance with its obligation to
treaties, conventions and protocols on protection and promotion of
Intellectual Property (IP) laws, especially Copyright and related rights
As
such, registration forms an integral part of protection and promotion
of Intellectual Property (IP) related rights as per section 49 of the
cited 2004 Copyright Act, Article 5 (1-4)(a-c) of Bern Convention for
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works among other legal provisions
to that effect
The
purpose of registration, according to the Copyrights Officer, Mr. Sanna
Jawara, is not limited to the following: to maintain a record of
work(s); to publicise the right of owner(s); to provide evidence of
ownership; and to authenticate owner of Intellectual Property (IP),
especially Copyright and related rights.
As
Jawara indicated, this calls urging members of the public to come and
voluntarily register their works is in line with on-going preparations
to have an effective and efficient enforcement of the said 2004
Copyright Act and 2018 Copyright Regulations and further inspired by
Legal Framework on Establishment of a Regional Voluntary Copyright
Registration and Notification System by Africa Regional Intellectual
Property Organisation (ARIPO) set to be adopted in 2020 as well as
Nairobi Strategic Plan for Development of Copyright and Related Rights
in Africa.
“The
Government of The Gambia, through Ministry of Tourism and Culture is
deeply committed and resolved to promote and protect our creative and
cultural industries as contained in National Development Plan and
ongoing engagements at domestic and global level, hence the importance
of registering our creative and innovative works as Copyright and
related rights, meant to add colour to our lives as humans desirous of
becoming what we wanted as per Article 1 of International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (right to self-determination),” he
disclosed.
Meantime,
many have welcomed the development which would go a long way in
elevating the status of the country’s musicians and others.