A summary of a study on copyright laws here with special emphasis on trade in the creative industries sector, which was commissioned earlier this year was presented by a World Trade Center Georgetown (WTCG), Guyana delegation as it wrapped up its participation in the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) members forum in New York this week.
A WTCG release stated that the forum, which opened last Sunday focused on a range of issues on global trade and development, human capacity building, artificial intelligence, and data management. The WTCG delegation comprised Finance Director Vasudeo Singh, Executive Director Wesley Kirton and Information Technology Specialist Ryon Samaroo.
The presentation of a summary of the study was made by Singh, who is also Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Deputy Chief Executive Officer, to WTCA Chairman John Drew. DDL holds the licence for the WTCG.
The release informed that the study was commissioned following consultations with local and international stakeholders in the field of intellectual property, as well as reviews of copyright legislation in common law jurisdictions and current international best practices. It identifies both the benefits and costs of a modern, comprehensive legal framework for copyright protection in Guyana, as well as the significant contribution that copyright makes to the economies of developing countries. Also highlighted was the potential impact of the cultural and creative industries on exports as well as the inter-relationship between technology and the ‘orange’ economy.
According to the release, the study was undertaken by Neville Bissember, currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Guyana, who has served in several international arenas including the Guyana foreign service, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group in Brussels and the Caricom Secretariat in Guyana. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Law, Cave Hill Campus, a Master of Laws from the University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, and was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts, USA.
Among the recommendations of the study are the preparation of a revamped and modernised Copyright Act; establishment of a federation of creative industries of Guyana; establishment of a national equivalent of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and promotion of stronger linkages with the tourism sector and the wider economy, it added.
Kirton disclosed that copies of the study will be shared with the Government of Guyana and that an international conference on the issue of the creative industries will be hosted by the WTCG during the first half of next year, the release stated.
