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  • From: Tobias Schonwetter <tobias AT creativecommons.org>
  • To: CC Africa mailing list <ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
  • Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2012 11:18:40 +0200

Dear all:

what an interesting discussion! First of all, I second the request to get hold of the text of the SEACONET Model Copyright Law, and yes, absolutely, local needs and circumstances must be taken into account.

Secondly, I in fact wrote an email to Charles the other day which I think may also be of interest to this group as it may shift the direction of the discussion slightly. It was triggered by the statement on Nabotu's website that "[t]he [model] law is a welcome development in the sub-region as countries strive to align their national copyright laws with WTO-TRIPS before the 2013 deadline". One question in my view is whether LDCs should really aim to comply with TRIPS by 2013 - or should they not rather try to get the transition period for LDCs extended beyond July 2013? This is because many argue that the provisions contained in TRIPS do not benefit LDCs and developing countries. Therefore, the Third World Network, for instance, is currently considering submitting a joint request to the WTO TRIPS Council for an extension of the transition period (to comply with TRIPS obligations) that expires on 1 July 2013. In their view "[m]
aking a request for extending the transition period is critical, if LDC are to fully benefit from flexibilities available under the TRIPS agreement. LDCs are the most vulnerable countries, and face many challenges. An extension of the transition period will give LDCs the flexibility they need to address the numerous challenges they face such as access to medicines, access to knowledge, access to seed, access to environmentally sound technologies etc". Please note, however, that it is only the transition period for LDCs I am talking about as the transition period for developing countries has already expired and they are therefore already required to bring their laws in line with TRIPS. 

What do you think?

Best,

Tobias

---
Dr. Tobias Schonwetter
Regional Coordinator: Africa
Creative Commons


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On 08 Oct 2012, at 10:16 AM, patricia boshe <pboshe AT yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Charles,
we would appreciate if you can share the copy of the law as it seems its in 'hide' and those who have it from SEACONET are not willing to share untill it is final. I had a friend contact Serman from SEACONET who said the model law was adopted in their last meeting in Malawi and its now being finalised and cleaned, and will only be willing to share when its ready by the end of this month hopefully
Patricia


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From: charles batambuze <batambuze_charles AT hotmail.com>;
To: CC Africa <ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org>;
Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
Sent: Mon, Oct 8, 2012 7:03:43 AM

I will share a copy of the law as soon as I receive it. Secondly, there are no guarantees that a model law will be adopted in its entirety by countries. That notwithstanding however, in the area of copyright, it might be useful to have national lobby teams well equipped to make a case for more flexibilities in the law and such other provisions that might make the law friendly. So perhaps a study of the economic impact of limitations and exceptions in any of the African countries would be a good starting point.

Charles


From: paulkih AT yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2012 22:44:15 +0300
To: gakuru AT gmail.com
CC: ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law

I concur with you Alex and Dick that we should scrutinize and adopt these model laws while bearing in mind our local needs and circumstances since we have our own peculiarities. In addition to that foreign imposed model laws at times have hidden agendas which in most cases would wish to suit the interests of multinational corporations at the expense of the poor Africans.

Any Model law has to be carefully scrutinized and adopted only where circumstances suits our prevailing environment otherwise it would be an absurd to adopt a model law which does not suit us.
The example of Kenyan Public Procurement and Disposal Act has been the trend in most African states. We have seen several other laws such as the Model Industrial Property Law just to mention but few.
Paul.

On 7 Okt 2012, at 22:26, Alex Gakuru <gakuru AT gmail.com> wrote:

And let's not forget that a number of Africa's laws are drafted by outsiders and handed to legislators to enact them. Consider, for example, recent comments on Kenya's Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005:

"The country's procurement rules are frustrating the smooth implementation of government projects, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said.
The premier criticized the current procurement laws, saying that were imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to curb financial irregularities at a time when corruption was rife in the country, and hence have outlived their intended purpose." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd4edWI41M0

On copyright, Kenya has in the past witnessed state agencies, using public funds, enforce copyright crackdowns at the behest of multinational corporations. We need to read and scrutinize the proposed 'model' law to satisfy ourselves that indeed they are not engineered to serve foreign copyright holders interests while at the same time weakening local creatives position and/or well-known African sharing culture, well resonating with CC.     

regards,

Alex

 

On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 10:07 PM, Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com> wrote:
I agree with Alex. It would help to see the model law itself so we know exactly what is being proposed. Beyond that, we've to be wary of attempts to harmonize laws across the board without due consideration for unique circumstances prevailing in different countries. Even in Africa, there are important nuances that might warrant local solutions not to mention regional ones (e.g. EAC). Besides, unquestionable harmonization from advanced economies is what many have been against in WIPO and elsewhere. Meeting WTO deadlines cannot be an excuse to harmonize across the board. Of course I can understand if participating countries will be encouraged to pick and choose what applies to them but presenting the model as the law for everybody to adopt. This is of particular concern given the participation of copyright administrators.
Dick
On Oct 7, 2012 2:43 PM, "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru AT gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Charles. It would have been great to read the reported original 'model law' proposed. It's a shame SEACONET's website 'documents' page is blank http://www.seaconet.org/?page_id=9   Would anyone have a copy to share?

thanks

On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 3:15 PM, charles batambuze <batambuze_charles AT hotmail.com> wrote:
fyi

SEACONET moots regional model copyright law

0 Nabotu / September 22, 2012 18:39 SEACONET moots regional model copyright law By Staff Writer
 Lilongwe: SEACONET- the Southern and Eastern African Copyright Network a regional association composed of National Copyright Offices and Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) met in Lilongwe, Malawi recently



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