Copyright bill should become law soon

Dec 20, 2004

Though the PAM awards have helped in recognising musicians countrywide, there is still more to deal with the plight of local musicians.

Isaac Tabu

Though the PAM awards have helped in recognising musicians countrywide, there is still more to deal with the plight of local musicians.

Despite recognising artists in all the different categories, their music continues to be pirated by unscrupulous individuals and institutions. Section 2(1) of the Uganda copyright Act for instance, stipulates that eligible works will enjoy protection only if the author is a national of Uganda (usually defined as either a citizen or resident), which provision most musicians meet.

But the 1964 Copyright Act has not done much about this. FM/TV stations have helped musicians to be known by playing their music.

But on the other hand they have also facilitated the infringement of their copyright because they use musicians’ songs for public other than private use. Copyright, for example, is not infringed if an end user buys a musician’s tape/CD (original) and plays it at home for purposes of listening only. But when commercial considerations come in, permission of the copyright owner must be sought.

Some FM stations have gone to the extent of using musicians’ sound tracks for advertisement purposes and producing ‘comical songs’ as on Super and other FM stations. Discotheques, public performers, live bands and discos and music studios which duplicate CDs from the musicians’ original CDs also join the long list of pirates.

Due to the strict nature of copyright protection in countries like the USA, Performance Rights Licensing Agencies like ASCAP and BMI collect royalties on music played on behalf of the artists.

Our local radio stations also pay companies like Radio Express or Tm Century for foreign music for which they receive a blanket licence as part of expenditure on hit disks. If Radio Express pays for Shaggy’s music, why not have the same for our local artists? In Uganda, we have the Uganda Performing Rights Society, (UPRS) whose Secretary General is Mr. Wasula, to whom WIPO has donated workstation equipment, computers and software to assist it in the management and control of copyright works. Another such society is the Producers Artists and Writers Union (PAWU) headed by Hem Dee.

These will be intermediary licensing organisations selling licences to anyone who uses copyrighted material that belongs to them. Article 7 (1) of the Berne convention on protection of literary works states that the term of protection granted (for protection) by this convention shall be the life of the author and 50 years after his death. Most musicians, their families and grandchildren may live to benefit from such provisions rather than the sh500,000 offered to a PAM Award winner and the sh2.9m.

Recording/Music studios offer musicians money upon sale of their albums and copyright!
If passed however, the bill will not cover musicians who plagiarise other musicians’ lyrics on composition, beats, rhythms and tunes and incorporate them into their songs.

An example of such scenarios is Steve jean and Titi Tabel’s wrangles over the song Kancacance of the Coca-Cola PopStars, that of Chameleone and Titi Tabel over the song Jamila and Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine's wrangles over the Funtula. Thus musicians’ unity is needed here but the major actor must be the government.

It has to show commitment in passing the Copyright Bill into law and overseeing its enforcement.

The public will also need to be sensitised since they are ignorant about copyright issues because they constitute the largest percentage of those supporting plagiarism through buying of pirated works.

The writer is a cartoonist
and budding musician

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