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| Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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Today is World Book and
Copyright Day:
Violations of that C within a circle With the blatant violation of copyright laws (knowingly or unknowingly) by novice singers leaving the artists of the original songs in a raging quandary, Dr. D.M Karunaratna, Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office explains the laws of the land with regard to the piracy of all creative works by Aditha Dissanayake
What is the fastest way to get rich these days? Stealing. Stealing music. As the world celebrates the International day for books and copyright laws, Dr. D.M Karunaratna, Director General of the National Intellectual Property (IP) Office says the piracy of music which has become rampant today is having a very harmful impact on countless musicians, lyric writers and performers - in short on the entire music community of the country. "One of our well-known intellectuals - Munidasa Kumaratunga once stated "the nation that is not creative does not progress", says Dr. Karunaratna, "And, we at the IP Office is doing everything possible to protect the creative efforts of the nation, especially with the most recent regulations which were gazetted on 19th October 2005, because, protecting the creative capacity of the nation helps its development process". According to Dr. Karunaratna, the Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Media and Mass Communication together with the representatives of three collective societies are currently having discussions regarding the payment of royalties to lyric writers, musicians and singers of songs broadcast by the state TV and Radio stations. He hopes that the state media will set an example for the private television and broadcasting institutions by paying royalties to musicians and acknowledging their creativity. Explaining the copyright laws of the country Dr. Karunaratna says all original, literary, artistic and scientific works are protected allowing the creators the exclusive right to control who can make copies or make works derived from the original work. If you create something and if it fits the definition of a creative work, you get to control who can make copies of it and how they make these copies. You can also sell or licence this right.
"The individual owners themselves can manage their rights" says Dr. Karunaratna. "Alternatively they can form themselves in to a society or association and manage their rights collectively." Mechanisms have been introduced for the settlement of disputes involving copyright and related rights. Upon an application made by any party about the dispute, the Intellectual Property Office is competent to hold an inquiry and help the parties resolve the concerned dispute. The law however, requires all creative works to exist in a tangible form - it can't just be something in your head, it has to be on paper, on a disk, carried on stone (sculpture), on a film reel, etc. Official texts of a legislative, administrative or a legal nature as well as the news of the day are not protected. Yet, in spite of these laws the piracy of music is rampant at the moment with several complaints being made by artists to the IP office with regard to the blatant violation of their rights by the novice singers who are charging exorbitant fees to appear at musical shows and sing other people's songs. Even though the rights of the creators are subjected to certain limitations such as "fair use" which includes the use of the protected works for educational, research and private purposes if you earn money by using a work which is not originally yours you could be charged with a fine or imprisonment. These punishments can be doubled upon a second or subsequent conviction, warns Dr. Karunaratna. So, the next time you hear a song being plagiarised remember the original musicians and songsters of the song who are not rich but simple hard working craftsmen who depend on their creations to provide for their families. Stealing their music means stealing their bread and butter. It is illegal and the offenders should be brought to court. ***** Copyleft If all music came under "copyleft laws" there would have been no controversy over who sings whose songs. What is copyleft? The obvious answer is simple. The opposite of copyright; a case where All Rights Reserved is replaced with All Rights Reversed. Copyleft can be described as a group of licenses applied to works such as software, documents, music and art. When copyright law is seen by the original proponents as a restriction of the right to make and redistribute copies of a particular work, a copyleft license ensures that every person who receives a copy or derived version of a work can use, modify, and also redistribute both the work, and derived versions of the work. Thus, while copyright takes away the users freedom, copyleft gives them a freehand. |
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The duration of Copyright is generally the lifetime of the author and 70
years after his death. The author who created the work is the owner of the
copyright. Certain different principles, however, are applicable to the
works of joint authorship, collective works created during employment etc.
The physical person whose name is indicated as the author of a work is
presumed to be the owner of copyright. 
