Hi Badru, Well most countries have a "fair use" clause in their copyright laws. I grant you this can be a subjective matter. The law does mostly function ok in other countries. Please dont send examples where it has failed, I am talking of the vast majority of cases. I see no reason why this can't function in Uganda.
If Uganda is not to become a pariah in the world of the creative arts (and I include computer programming as a creative art) then it needs to catch up with most other countries. Signing the Berne convention would be a nice start. If we in the open source movement cannot push this forward then what chance is there? Open source would simply not exist as a movement without copyright law. Tim On 09/08/2010, Badru Ntege (MPP) <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > James > > > > Maybe it was not too much of a high horse than failing to understand that > their needs to be a starting point in not only creating IPR and copyright > but also in sensitizing the whole issue with the masses. My main point on > the copyright as per artists are concerned is that traditionally way back > when these laws took ground not everybody could copy someones recording so > it was easy to enforce and also track down who made a copy of someones music > . > > > > Today even my 10 year old daughter can make copys of music to put on her > ipod and even make copies for her friends. Copyright in its traditional > mode and the mode the TIM is looking at is no longer a relevant law. > > > > So let me throw something in the air here for discussion. The radios and > all Telecom companies are regulated by governments around the world. Both > radio and internet have become the most popular vehicles for copyright > infringement. Since government collects allot of taxes from both broadcast > and internet providers maybe it’s time some method to have royalties paid > through this process is explored. The distribution among artists could then > happen based on the airplay their content gets. > > > > This could help balance the playing field but would need some clever > implementation. > > > > regards > > > > > > > > > From: Wire James [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 3:20 PM > To: Linux Users Group Uganda > Subject: Re: [LUG] Experiment on Content (Yesterday's radio) > > > > Tim > > > > Get off your high horse. While many of us may be concerned about the rights > of copyright holders, the situation not only in Uganda but many other > African Countries outside South Africa is similar. Many times members on > this list who are in business can vouch for this, people have come up with > proposals, ideas, innovations e.t.c and they are 'stolen' from them > unashamedly and in most instances by corporates that originate from the so > called purist countries you are trying to talk about. I recall a very famous > case of one Lugger whose company tussled it out with a giant over > infringement of copyright on some software. This big company thought it > would frustrate the guy through the court process but luckily enough, he was > able to push on till the big elephant sought an out of court settlement. > However, how many people have been lucky enough to achieve such justice here > in Uganda? Few, very few. That is why you find the laissez faire attitude > among the list members because we have more pressing problems and needs than > pretending that copyright will change our lives. Many times we submit > proposals for jobs and they are 'copy n pasted' by competitors who have > insiders in the organisations we are approaching. It is a dog eat dog world > for now and I will unashamedly tell you that as for now, copyright issues > are at the bottom of our list of problems to think about. I would rather see > Badru's project go on if its aim has a more positive impact on this nation > eventually than guarding worthless songs that have nothing to copyright > about. Many of these musicians would not even earn a dime if copyright was > to be observed to the letter in this country. I remember 4 years ago a > musician I helped to get paid US$ 1500 for a 3 hour show all because I came > across his music on a website that he even didnt know about. Like someone > said, it is a skewed market. Just understand it the way it is. > > Wire > > > On Mon, 2010-08-09 at 14:26 +0300, Tim Schofield wrote: > > > On 09/08/2010, Joseph Abdi <[email protected]> wrote: > > Tim, > > > > It's because 90% of the list members have not faced copy-right issues .. > > Also, since almost 90% of our website materials in Uganda don't use > > original materials one does not > > yet see the need or importance of copy-right ... > > > > And again, remember this is a LUG list (Open-Source) where FREE, COPY, > > RE-USE > > is Legal ...with the OS mentality and mind-set, you can hardly have > support > > or understanding of it here .. > > No no no no. Open source is only about free re-use if you keep within > the narrow confines of the license that the software is issued under, > for example the GPL. It in no way condones the abuse of copyright. > Copyright is at the very heart of the GPL. Anyone on this list who is > using a kernel more recent than 2.6.13 is using some of my copyrighted > code which I allow them to do providing they stick to the letter of > the license that the code is released under (GPL v2.0). > > Every open source developer, and those who benefit from the use of > open source should be active in the protection of the rights of > copyright holders. I have spoken at LUG meetings around the world, and > never before found a group who consider that copyright holders rights > should be abused. > > You clearly believe the rest of the world will throw off its > fluffiness and join Uganda in this. Trust me you will be disappointed. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > LUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > > LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > All Archives can be found at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > --------------------------------------- > > > -- WebERP Africa Ltd +447710427049 +256752963327 +255784602561 www.weberpafrica.com _______________________________________________ LUG mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ All Archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). 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