Our creative industries need protection

As much as the entertainment industry in Tanzania is growing day by day in different aspects with new talents joining, there’s still gloom crowding the total prosperity of the industry.

Earlier this week, different stakeholders and experts from the entertainment industry, specifically from film and from the Ministry of Industry and Trade came together for a five-day conference to discuss the progress of the entertainment industry at large.

The conference was to finalise a review and analysis of the National Intellectual Property Policy draft and recommend the strategic development, promotion and protection of Intellectual Properties (IP) in the copyright based creative industries of film, music, theatre and other performing arts.

 During a media briefing before the conference, the president for the Tanzania Film Federation Mr Simon Mwakifamba said the aim of the move is to improve the interest and welfare of artists and their works.

 He mentioned the recommendations for the petition on copyright are to address and totally combat issues that drag down artists’ works like counterfeit, and to increase media coverage of artists’ works and movements.

 The recommendations are documented in a study report to be presented to the government for further reviews and execution. The report was created by the Tanzania Film Federation (TAFF) and the Tanzania Music Network (TMN) in collaboration with other copyright sectors organizations.

 Copyright based industries are said to be part of the creative industries that include music, film, software, visual arts, performances, publishing, designs, collective management and advertising, among others.

 The report carried recent studies by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which shows that these industries are major contributors in terms of their relative aggregate value-added to a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as their contribution to employment and foreign trade.

 WIPO report on Economic contribution of Copyright based industries have generally demonstrated that copyright-based industries in Tanzania make a significant contribution to the national economy.   During its last survey, Copyrights industry in Tanzania was reported to have generated an added value of about Sh400 billion to over Sh600 billion, which was a contribution of 3 to 7 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) within 2007/10.

They also generated Sh38.9 billion to S83.6 billion as income to employees, or a proportion of 2.8 and 5.2 per cent of the total national economic value, while employing 28,202 and 44,331 people which is 4.5 and 5.7 per cent of the total national workforce.

In terms of GDP contribution, the copyright-based industries generally performed better than hotels and restaurants, and the mining and quarrying sectors.

In fact, the core copyright industries alone contributed more to the national economy than the mining and quarrying sectors in 2009 and 2010 (3.2% and 2.8% respectively) underscoring the important role these industries play in Tanzania. Mwakifamba explained that the law of the Copyright Society of Tanzania (Cosota) is still a challenge and if ‘it’ as a national law is supportive enough for the artists’ works, the industry will mushroom.

The suggestion to the government on Cosota laws is the revision of copyright legislation that will delink the role of Cosota as a Copy Right office and come up with private right holders collection management organizations.

“If we have good policies, it will help us have good laws and finally good regulations that will govern the industry and that is the best environment the government can ever create for artists and their craft,” he added.

Major challenges

One of the major challenges facing the entertainment industry in the country is mentioned in the report to be piracy. Piracy is the highest level of unauthorised commercial use of copyright protected works especially in the film, music and software industry.

Currently, the levels of piracy in the film and music industries are very high in the country as much as it is in the book piracy problem.

The book publishing industry is barely keeping afloat while the film industry is struggling due to these high levels of piracy in form of cheap pirated imports and illegal downloads.

Most of the major movies theatres have closed down as pirated movies are available for less than one dollar (about Sh2,200) in the streets. The new technologies are also a challenge to broadcasting and film.

The advent of high speed internet connection enable users to download copyright material and in many cases without the authority of the rights holders. This situation is exacerbated by the creation of mobile telephony.

Other challenges mentioned in the document include little or no investment in the copyright industry whether by local or foreign investors.

Copyright works such as music, film and books are often published outside the country effectively denying the local people employment.

No banks are willing to offer the creative authors loans against their works due to attendant risks.

The representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade Mr Wilson Mosha said it is time now that the government has a national voice on its policies and laws that will drive chance in the industry.

“This national stance will be a concrete tool to address the mentioned challenges above and ensure artists get their legit benefit as individuals and the nation as well benefits, “he elaborated.

He added the move will require maximum attention and involvement of all key stakeholders including Cosota, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports and from his ministry for implementation. When contacted by The Beat, hiphop artiste Nickson Simon famously known as Niki wa Pili said the move to create a platform for an artist to rise is very commendable, however he said there should be a keen reflection on whether or not an artiste will be the primary beneficiary.

He said the issue of copyright has been spoken over for years but the bottom line should be the question on where the profit goes, who’s most likely to gain advantage in the process just within the whole circle of those involved in the industry.

“For over twenty years, Bongo flava artists don’t directly benefit from their hard work and creativity, they only get a portion of the profit produced, and they still struggle financially,” he added.

He continued saying, surprisingly even the producers’ and promoters’ lives don’t match the value of their works, that’s why thorough study should be done to tell which party gains most in exception of artists themselves.

“The process of amending copyrights law and having Intellectual property work the magic of uplifting the interest of artists should primarily ensure that before anyone or anything the rights and benefits of the prime producer come first,” the rapper speaks.

According to experts and stakeholders, if the above recommendations are properly implemented, achievements will be noticed in the areas of generation of intellectual capital, providing employment and income for not only the artists but others who in different ways rely on creativity.

It will as well be the source of revenue to the government through taxes and hence improve the lives of people in community together with social services.