President Museveni handed the president of the Uganda National Musicians Federation, Eddy Kenzo, what he called the Copyright Management System. PHOTO/PPU
If there is a topic which has always united Ugandan artists, it is the conversation on copyright. Sometimes it starts a fresh narrative, while other times, it creates chaos. For instance, when artists formed the Uganda Musicians Association, their mandate was to get more Ugandan music on local media. However, at the end of it all, one of them started a conversation about copyright, and the rest is history. The agenda changed, and they started talking about copyright. Today, Uganda joins the world to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day.
It was established by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 2000 to "raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life" and "to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of economies and societies across the globe". Uganda, however, had the official celebrations yesterday at the Uganda Business Facilitation Centre in Kololo, officiated by Nobert Mao, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Registrar General Mercy K. Kainobwisho.
Before all this, however, early this year, President Museveni handed the president of the Uganda National Musicians Federation, Eddy Kenzo, what he called the Copyright Management System. He greenlit the operationalisation of the programme to strengthen intellectual property rights and provide better protection for creatives in the country. “When the tape recorders came, the main problem was recording someone’s song on the radio and multiplying it for economic gains. Now technology should tell us who has played my song, where or that what you have sung is for the other person,” President Museveni said.
This moment was considered a win by many art enthusiasts, especially artists because an integrated copyright management system will enable creatives to register their works, monitor their use, and, where possible, receive payments for the use of their works. According to Dr Joel Isabirye, the principal development economist at State House, a musician will register their works, such as a song and different places that have been licensed to play that music will be monitored by the system.
At the end of a certain period, like a month or a year, the musician will collect money that has been paid by that particular business to use this music. “Every business that uses music for entertainment charges people to come and get entertained. If I have a bar or a hotel and I am playing music by Afrigo Band, the people who come to that bar have come to drink or pay to enter because music is playing either on video or on speakers. So, the President and artists think that, at least, you should pay a little bit more to the musicians because you are using their work to make money,” Dr Isabirye said.
Many have, however, pointed out that the system appears glossy and good, but the danger is in the details. As one tech enthusiast, Faisal Pyepar, took a critical look at the system, especially the financial and logistical implications. Some of the questions he raises are whether a system operating online is feasible in a country which is mainly offline. As the world celebrates Intellectual Property Day, there are many questions Ugandan creatives still have about intellectual property, but most of these questions are coming from artists involved in music.
There are fewer coming from literature, theatre and film, even when their intellectual property is prone to abuse the same way music is. But even the artists in the music industry are fighting for copyright, and it seems the fight is for different things. Most importantly, most of them do not really understand what it means to have a functioning copyright infrastructure.
Most artists argue that people are consuming their works for free because the copyright law in Uganda is weak, leaving them to retire into abject poverty. It is partly true that most Ugandans consume free music. It should also be noted that world over, very many people consume music for free, even in countries with functioning systems. However, this does not negate its economic value outside Uganda and that should not be a problem in Uganda either.
Different players note that with the way streaming platforms have shifted distribution and exhibition, Ugandan artists need to change their mindsets and how they safeguard their works, especially from those who may try to profit from it without paying for it. During the celebrations organised by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), under the theme, IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP, the intention was to show why intellectual property matters. URSB is the national intellectual property office and plays a central role by offering a legal and administrative framework for the protection of intellectual property, including trademarks, patents, industrial designs, geographical indications, traditional knowledge and copyrights. However, even with all these efforts, many creatives still feel like the systems in place are not playing to their strengths.
They still believe piracy has continued to exist without repercussions. Most filmmakers, for instance, feel that failure by Uganda Communications Commission and other bodies that curb licenced TV stations and media such as Muno-Watch, Yo-TV and others from legally owning and showcasing pirated foreign content, have left the local film industry fighting a losing battle. For the music industry, however, the copyright conversation is one that keeps coming back, as a Kenyan singer and a former president of their collecting society once put it; “Africans need an intellectual property guideline and laws that understand the creative climate in Africa or specific countries.”
Are the laws relevant?
Do we value the creatives? Most of the laws were introduced by colonial masters whose creative industries had existed for more than 50 years. They introduced laws that were working for them to people that didn’t even value creativity as a profession at the time.
