On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Tim Schofield <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 10/08/2010, Mike Barnard <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > Kenya has got very stringent IPR and Copyright laws, which came about due > to > > the growth of their industry, whether artistic or in the engineering > field. > > -- > > Mike > > > > I believe you have this the wrong way around. Kenya has a strong > artistic industry because they have the laws in place to protect the > rights of the artists, not the other way around. > > I say this and stand by it because I was there, physically when these laws were made, dealt with the riots by kiosk owners whose CD's were set ablaze and them not understanding that what they had done was wrong. They came up as a result of what we are experiencing in Uganda. The laws were NOT there before, they were drafted only after people, like you and I, woke up and lobbied the house to enact laws that protect their work. This is what we have been *screaming* about here. The industry across the border continued to grow despite the piracy. When it had the muscle to make the noise, it did and laws were put in place. Allow the industry in Uganda to grow as we make *noise* about enacting laws that will protect the works being produced. It makes no sense for us to first stop coming up and implementing brilliant ideas such as Badru's while we wait for a law to be enacted, which may take a long time. Please note that while we may have signed treaties to ensure that certain copyright laws are upheld from a foreign nation, our priority remains, as a sovereign nation, with our laws. If no one from the MPAA comes to Uganda to complain about the 40 movies in 1 CD being sold in Kisementi, no one in Uganda will because it is NOT a law here yet. This is NOT condoning the abuse of ones rights, its just that we do not have it in our laws yet. Tim, I'd like to clarify something, no one is disagreeing with you on IPR and copyrights. What we are trying to point out is this, we do not have any such laws in Uganda that will work like you want them to. We are still developing them. While we develop these laws, we cannot and should not stifle ideas on this basis. We *must* encourage growth of our industry as we work out the laws. I want my ideas and IP to be protected, but I know very well that with our current laws, there is little (much improved from the 1964 act) that will protect me. I *must* continue to have these ideas produced as I and many others lobby for better laws to be enacted. -- Mike Of course, you might discount this possibility, but remember that one in a million chances happen 99% of the time. ------------------------------------------------------------
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