Barbados government has responded to the pleas of the anti-piracy lobby by doubling all of the sanctions for copyright infringement up to a maximum of $1/2 million or ten years? imprisonment.
By Albert BrandfordThese tough changes are contained in an amendment to the 1998 Copyright Act which is expected to be read a first time when the House of Assembly meets today at 10 a.m.
The Bill, in the name of Minister of Industry and International Business Dale Marshall, seeks to stiffen penalties for piracy which local artistes claim costs them millions of dollars each year.
It comes at the end of a low-keyed annual Crop-Over which was severely affected when an ad hoc committee, made up of musicians and entertainers ?- styled the Concerned Group of Entertainers ? said they would not release any new music unless Government took stronger steps to stamp out copyright infringement.
After a series of inconclusive meetings between representatives of the artistes? group and low-level Government officials, the umbrella body for trade unions, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB), was invited in as a mediator and at the 11th hour of the three-week festival, which officially began on July 10, some artistes belatedly released their contributions for 2004.
But the artistes? group, while welcoming the tougher penalties, appeared yesterday to remain wedded to the need for stronger enforcement of the law.
?Whilst we commend the steps being taken by Government to implement deterrent levels in criminal penalties for infringements that are committed for economic benefits,? said attorney for the Concerned Group, Santia Bradshaw, ?the effectiveness can only be realised with adequate copyright legislation and enforcement practices that adequately protect recorded music.
?The issue is more to do with the enforcement and prosecution of the offence because those are the first steps before you actually reach the point of sentencing.
?We need the enforcement authorities to be equipped to identify the infringement and the infringing materials in order to secure prosecution.?
Bradshaw said there had been instances where penalties were increased, but without having all the paperwork and charges correct, they never got to the point of sentencing.
The Copyright Act, originally passed in 1982 but amended in 1998, currently provides for a maximum fine of $250 000 or five years? imprisonment for people found guilty of dealing in infringed copies of protected works, whether literary, dramatic or musical, sounding recordings or films.
It is being proposed that the major sanction be boosted to $500 000 or ten years? imprisonment.
Also new on the Order Paper are two resolutions to vest land in the National Housing Corporation for housing development at Four Hill Plantation and French Village, St Peter, and Pipers Avenue, Cave Hill, St Michael, respectively.
