adminSection on Tuesday, University of Zimbabwe law lecturer Mr Moses Nkomo said there were enough laws in the country to enforce intellectual property rights, but implementation was the challenge.
Copyright Act is enshrined in Chapter 26 of the Zimbabwean Constitution.
“The people who should be driving for their intellectual property rights to be observed are artistes themselves because they are the owners of the rights.
“Hollywood funded the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was passed by US Congress on October 12, 1998 to ensure that new media technology such as the internet, which was not covered previously, would be taken into account,” he said.
He said there was need for artistes to lobby Government to enforce copyright laws.
“The Trips Agreement, particularly Section 41-61, says the State should provide the framework for effecting protection of intellectual property rights and deterrent measures against infringement of copyright laws.
“The state of the law is determined by the agitation of the rights holders. Rights holders should capacitate police, magistrates and prosecutors through raising awareness on intellectual property, to be on the lookout for copyright infringement,” he said.
Another speaker at the seminar, Munya Chiura from Computer Troubleshooters, said there was need for Zimbabwe to stop looking at artistic creations as culture, but as money.
“Intellectual property is money. If it’s Google you are talking of billions of dollars. We need to make sure we protect intellectual property and that way we can realise millions of dollars,” he said.
Evan Fox of the Political and Economic Affairs in the US Embassy in Harare said that the US has benefited from copyright laws.
Quoting a 2009 White House statement he said: “Intellectual property is to the digital age what physical goods were to the industrial age.
“We must ensure that intellectual property is protected in foreign markets and promote greater co-operation on international standards that allow our technologies to compete everywhere.”
He said that Steve Jobs, the late Apple founder “had 323 patents for everything from software to computer housings to power adapters”.
Musicians have been playing second fiddle to pirates, which has made realising money from album sales a phantom.
There is a song against piracy, with the likes of Bob “Headmaster” Nyabinde, Charles Charamba, among others being involved, but with minimal results.
The seminar was a belated commemoration for World Intellectual Property Rights Day, which is held on April 26 every year.
Online Reporter