- Copyright-based industries contributed 5.3 per cent of Kenya’s GDP and employed over 250,000 people.
- A good IP Policy should allow the country to assess whether the institutional and legal framework is fit for purpose at this time.
Image: COURTESY
The Kenya Kwanza manifesto takes cognizance of the great potential in the Creative Economy and emerging industries in the Digital Economy sectors.
And for good reason; Studies on the economic Contribution of Copyright based industries undertaken in over twenty countries by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) have demonstrated that the sector contributes on average five of the Gross Domestic Product.
This position was reaffirmed in Kenya by the WIPO-KECOBO study in 2009, which showed that the Copyright based industries contributed 5.3 per cent of Kenya’s GDP and employed over 250,000 people.
It is likely that the position has not changed significantly reflecting the importance of the knowledge-based industry to the country.
While the outgoing administration paid more attention to the creative sector scoring some notable achievements in the process, much more needs to be done by the new administration to create value from the copyright sector.
In the 12th Parliament, we also worked hard to actualise the Kenya Copyright Amendment Act of 2018 and again Copyright Act of 2022. It was emergency work, more like necessary patchwork on the existing laws.
Even then, we knew that we will ultimately need to do a whole new Copyright law that is fit for purpose in this new and fast-progressing digital world.
The intended merger of three Intellectual Property Offices; Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), Anticounterfeit Authority (ACA) and Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) which has been pending since 2013 has paralysed operations of the three offices.
The establishment with fused Intellectual Property office must be aware of probable neglect of the copyright - “the poor man’s intellectual property”.
In this regard, it is time to put an end to the speculations and uncertainty with a definitive pronouncement that the offices shall continue to exist as they are with better coordinating mechanisms.
The revival and completion of the pending Intellectual Property Policy which stopped in 2016 may be a good start in determining that and other questions.
A good IP Policy should allow the country to assess whether the institutional and legal framework is fit for purpose at this time.
On the side of Copyright Sector policy, Kenya now needs to seriously consider a detailed policy framework that incorporates mapping, sector size and state financial interventions. Most importantly, our country must invest in Intellectual Property Offices.
With the rise in piracy cases, funding and equipping of enforcement agencies should be expedited. The country must also review the current structure of the private sector and government-regulated collective management.
Our recent experience calls for a serious look at the available alternatives which must include automated collection and payment devoid of costly administrative costs replete with opaqueness, leakage, and fraud.
In this case, the government must invest in the infrastructure that supports the consolidation of artist incomes and promotes accountability and transparency to unlock access to credit from the banking sector. In addition, it may be time to consider a stand-alone accessible art fund for the sector.
As a potential tax contributor, a re-consideration with a view to simplifying and further de-segregate the tax tariff for the entertainment sector the tax code will be a welcome move.
The Value Added Tax (VAT) on books is another matter with serious consequences for the sector as it hurts the public’s purchasing power and therefore accesses to books leaving the publishing sector reeling.
The guidelines for book purchases for public schools need review to benefit the publishing sector. Similarly, the tax on airtime affects access to the internet for the youth in the country reducing consumption of Kenyan online content.
The tax on airtime continues to negatively impact income from ringtones and ringback tones with devastating impact. There are studies that have found that the cost of mobile data can be a barrier to access and participation in the digital economy.
Therefore, a deliberate policy to reduce the cost of mobile data can have a stimulus impact on the economy. These interventions must be accompanied by a well-defined and firmly enforced content quota for film and music sub-sectors.
These, in my view, are the key areas that the new administration can focus on to ensure the country gets value for its copyright and tap the creative genius of our youth. The Kenya Kwanza Government will have to play the role of enabler and fast-track pending policy action.
We, the sector champions in Parliament, will have to expedite the formulation of the requisite legislation and aggressively push them to the front burner as the 13th Parliament priorities it’s business.
With no less than four sector-friendly bills passed into law in the 12th Parliament, we did considerably well, we know, however, that there’s much more ground to cover. We are up to the task.
The writer is a member of the National Assembly, Dagoretti South.
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