Upgrading copy right law to international standards

Copyright infringement has become a hot issue in Addis Ababa recently, with music distribution shops being raided by the police and perpetrators being prosecuted. When a person creates a literary, musical, scientific or artistic work, he/she is owner of the work and is free to decide on its use. Copyright Law is supposed to protect the work from the moment it comes into being. However Copyright law in Ethiopia is vague and outdated and a “Draft Proclamation to Protect Copyright and Neighboring Rights” is under discussion.

Ato Getachew Mengistie Acting Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Office took some time to explain some of the developments in this area to our reporter Selome Kifle:

Capital: What is the difference between the existing copyright law and the draft legislation?

Ato Getachew: Copyright is protected under relevant provisions of the 1960 civil code. The code among the other things, defines copyrightable subject matters, specifies the exclusive rights of an author or his/her heirs or the person who acquired the right by contract. And it lists the limitations imposed on the exclusive rights of copyright owners etc…

However, the law suffers from gaps, inadequacies and so forth. The existing law does not recognize essential and basic rights recognized and protected by copyright laws of other countries as well as relevant international laws. An example is the non-recognition of rights called ‘neighboring related rights’ or the right of persons who undertake work that would facilitate the exploitation and wider dissemination of copyright protected works.

In addition, it does not recognize the rights of performers such as singers, dancers, and actors etc. It does not recognize the rights of sound recording producers who have worked and invested in making a musical work to be widely heard and enjoyed. Broadcasting organizations do not have rights recognized or protected under the existing law. 

There are a number of provisions that would not help to adequately protect the interests of right holders. An example is the provision that deals with the duration of copyright. Copyright is protected during the lifetime of the author and when he dies, for fifty years beginning from date of publication of a work. As per this provision heirs of an owner of a work published in 1960 after the enactment of the law and who died in February 2004 will have about five years to exploit the right acquired by the operation of the law.

This will not adequately protect the right of the heirs. It could also be taken to be as unjust when viewed from the fact that the owner of a copyright has very little to pass on to his/her heirs in terms of tangible property.

Furthermore the provisions under the existing law are different from the standard accepted by a number of countries of the world as well as relevant international law. The generally accepted duration of copyright is life plus fifty years. The period of fifty years commences from the date of the death of the author instead of the date of publication of a given work.

The objectives of the draft law is to deal with the above and similar shortcomings of the existing law by facilitating the effective protection of the rights of the owners of copyright and neighboring rights.

Capital: Are the courts entertaining lawsuits based on existing law?

Ato Getachew : Yes but the number of cases brought before courts are few. In view of the fact that infringement of copyright is increasing from time to time and the increasing complaints of the right holders one would have expected a large number of cases.

The possible reason for little use of the court system to dispose of copyright infringement cases may include the problem of capacity to trace infringement activities and necessary financial means to bring infringes to the courts. To deal with this problem the draft legislation has introduced the concept of collective copyright management society. Such a society will not only help to monitor acts of infringement but also to institute suits against infringes but also maximize the benefits of right holders by increasing their bargaining power.

Capital: Are the present laws adequate to protect intellectual property?

Ato Getachew: Intellectual property is a very wide concept. It consists of patents, copyright, trade and service marks, plant varieties etc.

There are laws that protect certain elements of intellectual property such as patents and copyright. However some of the laws are inadequate. An example is the existing copyright law discussed above.

The national legal framework lacks laws that govern certain aspects of intellectual property. There is no law for instance that protects plant variety and trade secrets.

“The provisions under the existing law are different from the standard accepted by a number of countries as well as relevant international law...”

There is thus a need to further improve some of the existing laws while at the same time trying to put in place new ones. Considering the fact that intellectual property is an area that had been neglected for a long time, the measures taken within a short period of time, namely after the change of government, is encouraging.

Capital: Are there international agreements that Ethiopia is a party to?

Ato Getachew: Yes Ethiopia is a member of the convention that establishes the world intellectual property organization. It joined the convention in 1997.

It is also a party to the Nairobi Olympic treaties concluded to protect the Olympic symbols from being used for commercial purposes.

The country, however, is not yet a member of the various international treaties concluded to protect the different elements of intellectual property. It is not a member of a number of treaties administered by WIPO including the major international conventions such as the 1886 Bern Copyright Treaty and the 1883 Paris Industrial Property Convention, which deals with patents, Mark and industrial designs. Ethiopia is also not party to the agreement on trade related aspects of intellectual property administered by the world trade organization (WTO).

The reason for the non-membership of international agreement mainly lies in the fact that there had been no well-developed national intellectual property system. This situation will be changed as the national system develops and with the linkage of the country with multilateral trading arrangement.

The country submitted a request to be a party to the World Trade Organization and that request had been accepted by the organization last year in February. One of the measurements that need to be taken by the country is the linking of the national intellectual property system with international intellectual property system.

The need for linkage of the national intellectual property system is well recognized in Ethiopia. One of the duties given to the intellectual property office established by law last year in April relates to the undertaking of studies on relevant international instruments and submitting proposal for the government. The membership of the country to the international intellectual property agreements and the linkage of the national system to the international will be realized in the foreseeable future.