Govt needs more time for consultations on Copyright Rights Amendment Bill

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The Attorney General’s office has asked for more time to make adequate consultations with all the relevant stakeholders before proposed amendments are made to repeal the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, 2006. It follows a petition to Parliament early this month by the representatives of the Uganda National Musicians Federation (UNMF) seeking an expeditious amendment to the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act to guard against the growing infringements on intellectual property rights.

Led by their President, Edrisa Musuuza, famously known by his stage name as Eddy Kenzo, the Federation reasons that the existing legal framework doesn’t sufficiently guarantee them benefits from their immense contributions to the creative industry. They want more benefits from the revenue proceeds collected from call-back tunes which they observed that currently benefit more the telecommunication companies.

They also proposed charging 60 percent of the revenue on the caller-back tunes to be remitted to them and the remaining 40 percent to be shared between the government and telecom companies. Further, the Federation’s proposed amendments also include a requirement for broadcasters to dedicate 90 percent of airtime to Ugandan music and use native models, actors/actresses, and artists in advertising, promotion, and product endorsements to promote local content.

Additionally, they want the introduction of a copy levy on devices used for reproducing copyright-protected works, with the proceeds to be equally shared between the government and copyright holders. Already a series of meetings between the Attorney General’s office and representatives of UNMF; the National Culture Forum, the Uganda Reproduction Rights Organization, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau – URSB and the Uganda Law Reform Commission – ULRC, reached a consensus to consult widely.

“I met with the members of the Federation, officials from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, URSB, and ULRC. In the meetings, I noted that there is a need for extensive stakeholder consultations,” said Jackson Kafuuzi Karugaba, the Deputy Attorney General.  “I therefore directed that URSB and ULRC work together and carry out further consultations around the country before the submission of the Regulatory Impact Assessment – RIA to Cabinet.”

Kafuuzi revealed that the first consultation was conducted on 12 October for Northern Region, and Eastern Region in October 2023. More consultations are expected on 1 November and 15 November 2023 in Western and Central regions respectively. Consequently, on 27 November, another stakeholders’ meeting shall be convened to validate the report into a final document.

Upon completion of the consultations, the matter shall be tabled before the Cabinet for consideration of the principles to amend the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, 2006 before the Bill is forwarded to Parliament for enactment. Move to repeal the Act started in July 2022 Hillary Kiyaga, the Mawokota North Member of Parliament sought leave of Parliament to introduce the Copyright and Neighboring Rights (Amendment) Bill.

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