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Subject: Creative Commons Jurisdiction Teams in Sub-Saharan Africa
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- From: Yemi Lawal <yemilawal AT yahoo.co.uk>
- To: Alex Gakuru <gakuru AT gmail.com>
- Cc: "ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
- Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2012 10:17:14 +0000 (GMT)
True! I agree with Alex.
There are so many other examples of the example he has given in different parts of Africa.
I proposed in my doctoral thesis and in a book I have written which should be available before the end of November that legal pluralism should be considered for the protection of IP in Africa. A bottom up approach accommodating Individual (private) as well as communal (common) is preferable to a top down approach which is purely individualistic and eurocentric. Africans were able to guard/protect their
common resources (while making it available to all in the community) and still acknowledge the rights of creators and innovators.
Below is my view on Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO)
The nexus between
intellectual property and protection of creativity and art in Africa is worth
exploring. Moreover, a uniform intellectual property law system is pertinent to
Africa. An effective instrumental framework lies in the establishment of a
continental intellectual property organisation, providing for intellectual property
issues including culture, music and folklore. The existence of a regional legal
framework protecting creativity and art is indeed a reflection of the spirit of
Pan-Africanism.
There are at present two
regional intellectual property organizations with 32 countries out of a total
of 53 as Member States. Their creation
is linked to the imperial conquest of Africa by the British and French. The
difference in language of countries comprising both organisations is a major
hindrance to their harmonisation and development of a legal framework
protecting intellectual properties in Africa. The African realities are not
expressed in these organizations. They espouse a western intellectual property
system, almost without adjustment. The
remaining 21 countries including Nigeria, South Africa and a majority of
countries in North Africa are not represented by any regional institution. These
countries rely on their own national intellectual property arrangements.
African countries will
accomplish more for their economic markets by developing an organization together,
to manage Intellectual property matters. The probability of establishing an
effective system in comparison to what is available is higher. Pan-African
Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO) is undeniably a step towards a
single intellectual property organization and unity among African states. PAIPO
is expected to provide a platform for member states to benefit from an
intellectual property system that would promote innovation.
'Africa in the spirit of
Pan-Africanism should have as its ultimate objective the development and
adoption of a legally binding regional intellectual property instrument for the
protection of creativity and art.'
From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru AT gmail.com>
To: Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com>
Cc: CC Africa <ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, 2 November 2012, 9:38
Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
To: Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com>
Cc: CC Africa <ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, 2 November 2012, 9:38
Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
Charles,re: openness, ditto.Agree, that even in
(traditional) African culture private property ownership existed. And theft of such private property was punished very severely. For example, amongst the Agikuyu stealing was punishable by death. A muici (thief) would be taken atop hill, wrapped in dry banana leaves, put inside a large beehive set on fire then made to roll down the hill to a screaming example to other tempted thieves.
But alongside private existed vast, if not much greater, communal property which anyone was free to reasonably use without destroying nature. These included fetching firewood from the God's forest, hunting for meat etc while still protecting the animals. Today, certain communities still protect wildlife from poaching. We still have an inbuilt extended family and community care quite opposite the Westerners and Northerners individualist extremism--where almost everything is owned by a person. Language words and fonts used to on digital literature (perhaps even emails?) are owned by someone.
If Africans were to draft their own model copyright law its content would definitely be quite different from the western copyright construct. Therefore, in as many different ways, all we are asking is for is SEACONET's initiative be open to our scrutiny to guarantee us that their proposal is indeed African or a foreign model forced down our throats?
thanks,AlexOn Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 11:23 AM, Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com> wrote:
Yes it will be useful to see the text to judge how good or bad the proposed law is.True CC Africa or anybody can come up with one. However, the difference here is that SEACONET is partly made up of public/government officials from the region. That raises questions of transparency, how binding is the model law on the countries present, etc. But the first step is making the text public.dkOn Nov 2, 2012 2:26 AM, "charles batambuze" <batambuze_charles AT hotmail.com> wrote: Alex,I am actually attending the ARIPO/WIPO conference in Harare and will probably have a chance to speak to Chavula of SEACONET about progress with the model law. Alex, the model copyright law isn't a bad idea at all! The Africa CC Affiliates if they want could also come up with one. Charles From: gakuru AT gmail.comDate: Fri, 2 Nov 2012 04:49:18 +0300 To: ookolloh AT gmail.com CC: ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law I haven't, though two days ago requested an ARIPO/WIPO conference, Harare (Tue-Fri 9th next week) speaker to convey Creative Commons Africa Affiliates' concerns with the 'exclusive' nature of the process behind the so-called "Model Copyright Law" mooted by SEACONET. If somebody else managed, then please share. On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 12:48 AM, Ory Okolloh <ookolloh AT gmail.com> wrote: Anyone manage to track down this law? On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 5:17 PM, Aminou Ndala TITA <aminou20022001 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
HelloFrom the summary I got, the law has nothing to do with the protection of copyright in the online environment. Am I wrong?RegardsAminou
--- On Sun, 10/7/12, Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com> wrote:
From: Dick Kawooya <dkawooya AT gmail.com>To: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru AT gmail.com>Subject: Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law
Cc: ccafrica AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sunday, October 7, 2012, 3:07 PM
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.DickOn 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: _______________________________________________ccAfrica mailing list ccAfrica AT lists.ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ccafrica _______________________________________________ ccAfrica mailing list ccAfrica AT lists.ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ccafrica
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-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Ory Okolloh, 11/01/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/01/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
charles batambuze, 11/02/2012
- Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law, Ory Okolloh, 11/02/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Dick Kawooya, 11/02/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/02/2012
- Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law, Yemi Lawal, 11/02/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
charles batambuze, 11/03/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/03/2012
- [ccAfrica] @ WIPO SCCR, charles batambuze, 11/20/2012
- Re: [ccAfrica] @ WIPO SCCR, Tobias Schonwetter, 11/20/2012
- Re: [ccAfrica] @ WIPO SCCR, charles batambuze, 11/21/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/03/2012
- Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law, IP Kenya, 11/21/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/02/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
charles batambuze, 11/02/2012
-
Re: [ccAfrica] SEACONET Model Copyright law,
Alex Gakuru, 11/01/2012
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