Seventeen African countries have joined together to launch the Southern and East African Copyright Network (SECONET) under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). SECONET has been established to address issues relating to the promotion and protection of the creative industries, copyrights and the IP field in general.
Topics on the agenda for SECONET include:
- upgrading the region's IP laws to comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs);
- harmonising and updating the region's copyright laws;
- protecting traditional knowledge; and
- eradicating piracy and copyright theft.
This is an imposing agenda for a region which is seen as lagging slightly behind the developed world in focusing on intellectual property.
The TRIPs Agreement lays down minimum standards with which the IP laws of WTO members must comply; however, the countries in the region have been slow to give full effect to TRIPs obligations. Thus, it will be a major achievement if SECONET can make the IP laws of the regions TRIPs-compliant.
At the same time, SECONET should also urge its members to adhere to the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty, which deal with protection in the digital age. If the SECONET member countries wish to be taken seriously in regard to IP rights, they must embrace these treaties. SECONET should aim to persuade its members to implement the treaties into their domestic laws.
The region has a rich heritage of traditional knowledge and folklore and there is a strong desire to grant some form of protection to this genre of works. International debate on the best approach to such protection has raged for years and is no closer to reaching a definitive solution. South Africa has opted to protect traditional works as a separate species of work eligible for copyright protection – the government is considering a draft bill to amend the Copyright Act to this effect. However, it is highly debatable whether copyright is an appropriate tool to protect traditional knowledge – a more effective approach might be to treat traditional knowledge as a sui generis type of work which is best regulated by a separate law.
Like the rest of Africa, the southern and eastern region is a hotbed of piracy, particularly in the fields of computer software, music and audiovisual works. Thus, SECONET faces a major challenge to improve the region's performance in this regard. The first step is to implement effective and up-to-date legislation, while the second is to put in place appropriate enforcement mechanisms. SECONET should aim to promote the adoption of similar legislation to the South African Counterfeit Goods Act by its member countries.
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| Owen Dean |
Spoor & Fisher Jersey
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St Helier, Jersey JE4 9TW
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