No Intellectual property rights

Copyrights are non-existent and there seems to be serious push to create a law and enforce it...musicians and other artists will suffer for this...


Why does Guyana always lag in the back?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 28, 2008

Intellectual property rights forum… Delegates disappointed at ‘no show’ of presenters

The spirits of several individuals hoping to be a part of an intellectual property rights forum, on Tuesday last, were crushed when they turned up at the designated venue, the Hospitality Village at the Carifesta Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue, only to realise that the event scheduled for 10:00 hours was not close to a start even by early afternoon.
Among those that were hoping to be a part of the forum were Carifesta delegates from the Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis, in addition to a few local persons with immense interest in copyright laws.
After waiting for sometime, some of the potential participants became concerned as to whether they were at the correct venue.
However, calls to the Carifesta Secretariat revealed that the venue was indeed the correct one but the person in charge of hosting the forum was not reachable.
As a result, an official from the Secretariat advised that those desirous of being a part of the forum sit together and discuss their thoughts on intellectual property rights, much to the disappointment of those present.
But like most of those who turned up for the forum, local Information Technology Professional, David Cole, said that he was simply hoping to learn of the possible ways he could protect his work.
According to him, his line of work which involves software creation also requires some level of protection which he was hoping could be expounded by presenters at the forum.
Executive Director of the Festival Secretariat of St Kitts and Nevis, Mr Antonio Liburd, expressed utter dissatisfaction that the programme did not come off as expected.
He pointed out that he was anxious to be at the forum since as a music producer in Nevis, he is part of a team currently attempting to put in place a strategy to protect cultural artistes.
Liburd said that this move recently came into being since it was recognised that many artistes are continually spending money to produce their work but are robbed of the potential benefits since no protection mechanism is in place.
He said that at first it was thought that the situation could have been aptly addressed by the efforts of the National Department of Culture or the Festival Secretariat. However, it became obvious that neither entity was doing anything for each other, thus a decision was made that one umbrella organisation be created.
As such, Liburd said, the Nevis Cultural Development Foundation was developed, with a view of addressing the problem of intellectual material theft.
He noted that through this avenue, plans are being streamlined to safeguard artistes in St Kitts and Nevis.
He said that he knows that in some countries the copyright law is in effect and thus ensures that if an artiste’s work is utilised, he or she is paid the relevant royalties for his property.
And so it was with great disenchantment that Liburd and the other intended participants left the Hospitality Village still yearning for knowledge on intellectual property rights.
Officials at the Carifesta Secretariat up to yesterday were unable to provide information on whether the forum will be held another day.

Taken from: Kaieteur News