BY WINSTONE ANTONIO IN VICTORIA FALLS LOCAL creative scene narratives show that there is still a lot of misunderstandings and ignorance concerning copyright law and intellectual property rights.
A lot of artistes are said to be unaware of copyright laws and as a result, they are either prejudiced or unknowingly commit intellectual property crime.
Lot still needs to be done to protect artistes’ copyrights.
The Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) is engaging stakeholders at a copyright’s awareness workshop here at Victoria Falls’ Chinotimba Hall.
A music composers and publishers association, Zimura was established in 1982 to protect the rights of musicians and publishers under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act Chapter 26:05.
The protection of works of the mind such as literature, music and art is also provided in the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act.
Zimura is affiliated to the Confederation of International Societies of Authors and Composers based in Paris, France and also registered with the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.
The copyrights awareness workshop coincided with the association’s 40th anniversary celebrations, is being attended by artistes, the police, the judiciary, business community, and opinion leaders, among others.
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Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style about an hour before the start of the workshop, Zimura deputy director Henry Makombe said continuous engagement will enlighten external stakeholders on their mandate.
“Stakeholders mainly associate us with royalty collection and distribution. Apart from handling artistes’ royalties, we also have a mandate of protecting the rights of composers and publishers of music,” he said.
Makombe believes the workshops will empower the stakeholders with correct information about the organisation.
“As we are celebrating our 40th anniversary, we believe information is vital, hence we want to continue educating our stakeholders on our operations as Zimura,” he said.
“Through the workshops to be held throughout the country’s 10 provinces we seek to correct various misconceptions and close information gaps among the stakeholders.”
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