SoC04 A bright future for innovators in Tanzania copyright modernisation

SoC04 A bright future for innovators in Tanzania copyright modernisation

Tanzania Tuitakayo competition threads

Mamshungulii

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Copyrights give the copyright owner exclusive rights over their original works. While not all works are copyrightable, a few examples of copyrightable materials include movies, literary works, live performances, sound recordings, radio broadcasts, and even software. On the other hand, ideas, designs, concepts, and facts cannot be copyrighted, and in order for a work to be eligible for a copyright, it must be in a fixed tangible form, such as a drawing on paper.

As a copyright owner, you have certain rights that are exclusive to you, such as the right to display your work, distribute your work, make derivative works (a digital version of a published book, for example), and reproduce your work. You also have the right to authorize an agent to exercise your exclusive rights or transfer your copyright, in whole or in part.

A copyright can be transferred to another party through an assignment or a license. An assignment means that you sell or give the copyright to another person or entity, which would result in your loss of copyright control. If you grant someone a copyright license, on the other hand, you are still the owner of the copyright, but the person who is granted the license (the licensee) can legally exercise some or all of the copyright owner’s rights. A copyright license is a practical option for copyright owners who wants to maintain control over how the licensee uses the rights.

Most people think that whoever actually makes a creative work owns the copyright in that work, but that often isn’t the case. Artists, authors, and musicians can transfer copyright ownership or license certain rights of copyright ownership to other parties. Sometimes multiple people can also simultaneously have ownership of the copyright in a creative work.

Achieving a balance between access to copyrights works for the community and appropriate protection/remuneration for creators and copyright owners is a continuing issue. However, the way in which we consume copyrights works has radically changed for years. A number of Tanzanians access content online is likely to continue to grow.

The issue is whether copyrights law responds to the challenges and opportunities the online worlds present.

INNOVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY
Copyright is an essential aspect of innovation in the digital environment productivity is lifted by innovation, which includes ‘creation of new copyrights works and innovation in legal access, distribution, storage and consumption of those works,’ as well as ‘new ways of producing or distributing goods and services or new ways of managing existing processes to do so.

Copyright law is fundamentally concerned with motivating the creation and distribution of new copyright material, by giving rightsholders a limited monopoly over the use of their material. It is generally accepted that without this monopoly, there would be fewer new works, and less innovation.

However, innovation generally thrives where there is a competition; therefore, by limiting the copyright monopoly, exceptions can also increase competition and stimulate innovation.

It is a call to have the right innovation systems in place to ensure that creative people and businesses in Tanzania are allowed to thrive and create value from new way of doing things. A successful innovation system is one that is robust, adaptable and capable of evolving over time.

A mechanism put in place to promote creation by ensuring fair rewards to creator is becoming, in important respects, a hindrance to deeper development of Tanzania digital economy, a stain on thee online of so many consumers and an impediment to promoting the innovation Tanzania desperately needs.

The recommendation in this writing is intended to facilitate a copyright framework in which innovation and productivity are enhanced as Tanzanian participate in the digital economy and diversify areas of economic development for the future.

CONSUMER USE OF COPYRIGHT MATERIAL
This writing is of consideration whether the copyrights law need reform to allow:
• Transformative, innovative and collaborative use of copyright materials to create and deliver new products and services of public benefits;
• Appropriate access, use, interaction and production of copyright material online for social, private or domestic purposes.

There is increasing voices from citizens concerns copyrights law hinder what they view as their freedom to access and use content. Experience shows that many of them would rather pay for legal offers than use illegal content, but they often do not know whether what they download, stream or share is illegal. Businesses increasingly argue that the current copyright model is a barrier to developing the business models they consider necessary for the digital economy. These consumers and businesses agree, for different reasons, that copyright rules have to be made more flexible.

Currently multiple everyday activities without commercial implications are likely to breach copyright. Indeed, many consumers would be surprised to learn they were breaking the law by privately copying and recording in a way hat has been commonplace for decades and in using devices that have been marketed to them vigorously.

It is recommended that, there is a need of recognising ways in which individuals use and communicate ideas and experiences, without damaging the economic interest of the copyright owner, its relevant and should be taken into consideration.

The policy rationale for any new exception should be based on the purpose for which content can be used without permission. This purpose should, as a matter of public interest, be more important than a content creator’s right to manage the use of their work.

It is also recommended that in-order to fully exploit the substantial potential benefits arising in the digital economy, it is important that competition laws are able to complement intellectual properties law including copyrights laws, by preventing anti-competitive conduct associated with copyright usage that is not in the public interest.

It is clearly accepted that, generally intellectual property laws do not create legal or economic monopolies. Intellectual properties law creates properties rights and the goods and services produced using intellectual properties rights in the marketplace with other goods and services.

The goal is to ensure that Tanzania copyright enforcement regime is relevant, effective and proportionate.


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