Artists learn about copyright |10 October 2019

Nac chief executive Jimmy Savy addressing the delegates

Several authors, artists and musicians have little knowledge when it comes to protecting their materials which is the reason that there has been numerous cases of musicians going to court over stolen properties.

To keep these persons informed on copyrights in Seychelles, a workshop was organised yesterday at the National Tender Board’s bidding room at Maison de Mahé in Victoria.

The workshop is a collaboration between the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning and the National Arts Council (Nac).

“The creation of the mind, commonly known as intellectual property has become a vital tool for both local and international artists, especially with its component of copyrights,” said Nac chief executive Jimmy Savy.

He added that it is in this modern era that we have started to comprehend the importance of copyright elements.

“This training is important as it is sensitising our Seychellois artists on what Seychelles Copyright Act provides and increases your brilliant knowledge on your rights, obligation and support available through the national international property institution,” said Mr Savy.

It is the first time that such a workshop is being organised for Seychellois artists followingthe consultation and national seminar on intellectual property (IP), which was attended by high-level officials from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (Aripo) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) back in July this year.

Mr Savy noted that it is important for creators to know about intellectual property rights as well as the consequences when you use someone’s work without permission.

Although many attendees of the workshop were interactive some felt that it fell short as it lacked some information. However, as it is the first time that such a workshop is being held, criticisms like these will hopefully be taken into account for the next workshop.

Seychelles currently has an Industrial Property Act 2014, Copyright Act 2014, and regulations dedicated to border measures for the protection of IP rights under the Customs Management Regulations 2014, a National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation Act 2014, which came into effect in 2016 and a Creative Industries and National Events Agency Act 2016. These legal instruments have significantly reformed our IP regime and infrastructure since the 2010 IPDP.

We also have the Seychelles Authors and Composers Society (Sacs) which was appointed as the body responsible for promoting rights of copyright owners and is collecting and redistributing royalties so that those owners receive a return for the use of their creations.