-Private Sector Commission writes President
The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has recommended that the Guyana government follow sister CARICOM countries in reaching an agreement with publishers to have textbooks at a reduced cost as the organization will not support the acquisition of pirated material.
A number of local distributors have already been blocked by a High Court injunction from displaying, selling or producing the near-original copies. The injunction was obtained by the United Kingdom’s Publishers Association.
Controversy has been sparked by the government’s declaration that it is pursuing contracts for the pirating of textbooks for public school students. It was epitomized in the following statement by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon at a recent press conference: “You could be a publisher with a copyright and you could offer to sell me the book for $1. My friend is a good photocopy artist and he could sell me the book for 10 cents. All of you are going to bid but who do you think is going to get it?”
The Chamber yesterday expressed grave concern over the issue saying that in addition to stifling or destroying the creative industry, government’s blessings of copyright violation can send a message to youths that plagiarism and other forms of theft are accessible. “This also sends a troubling moral message to our students who will grow up to accept that there is nothing wrong with using the intellectual outputs of others without permission. This is a natural progression to cheating and plagiarism”, GCCI said in a statement.
“We must have a society where there is respect for the work and efforts of others. Guyana cannot evolve in a knowledge based, information driven economy if matters such as intellectual property protection are not dealt with comprehensively at the highest decision making levels,” the GCCI added.
Further, the organization says that breach of Intellec-tual Property Rights (IPR) has the potential to damage a sector which contributes to the nation’s economy. “If there is an impression that someone’s intellectual property cannot be respected or protected it can discourage or even destroy completely a productive sector that can potentially make a significant contribution to the local economy over the medium to long term.”
The city business organization has promised to stand ready to participate in any efforts to provide solutions in the best interest of all concerned parties. “We have to respect copyright laws, there is no escaping it. Looking at the issue we need to develop a policy on the issue and if government needs the help of the GCCI we will help even if it means procuring and sourcing of an expert” the Chamber’s President Clinton Urling told Stabroek News.
GCCI’s umbrella body the Private Sector Commission weighed in on the issue and said that while the group understands the background to government’s action to procure the pirated books it cannot condone copyright violation. “Although we understand the position, which is that government wants to keep the books within the reach of everyone you cannot breach copyright. It has far reaching effects not only for the people who tendered but for the country as a whole” Chairman of the PSC Ronald Webster told this newspaper yesterday.
Fearing a trade backlash by the European Union, the PSC said that it wrote the president on their position highlighting the risks involved in IPR violation. It however would not go into details as to the content of the letter saying it was private between the organization and the country’s leader.
Webster instead wants government to have direct discussions with publishers with the aim of signing an agreement for the provision of reduced-price textbooks that would see Guyana respecting IPR rather than discouraging investments. “The PSC has to be responsible …No one wants to see someone take their hard work and copy”, Webster said.
At a press conference last week, President Donald Ramotar said “We are looking at that [the situation] right now. I am hoping to have an amicable solution to that matter, while at the same time we are trying to get value for money and ensure our kids have books and so forth.”
