28 January 2010
The Stakeholders’ Workshop on Copyright Law Review in Kenya was held today, January 28, in Nairobi. The main purpose of the workshop, organised by the Kenya Copyright Board, was to provide the stakeholders with an opportunity to contribute to the law reform process. ACA2K Kenya Research Team members Dr. Ben Sihanya and Marisella Ouma, both of whom work for the Copyright Board, participated in the process.
The Kenyan Copyright Act was passed in December 2001 and became operational in February 2003. The Copyright Board, a statutory body that is mandated to deal with the enforcement and administration of copyright and related rights, embarked on the legislative reform exercise in 2007, developing draft amendments in 2009. Some of the draft amendments are based on the findings of the ACA2K research in Kenya.
The proposed new or amended exceptions and limitations, especially in relation to the visually-impaired, educational institutions and libraries and archives, drew mixed reactions from the workshop participants. The rights-holders, especially the book publishers, were of the opinion that the exceptions and limitations should be drafted in line with the Berne 'three-step test' and should not in any way prejudice their interests. The libraries questioned the provision of exceptions that were only applicable to the public libraries. The universities wanted a clear provision on the use of works for teaching purposes.
The Board will now develop another draft that incorporates the contributions during the meeting and circulate the draft to the stakeholders for further comments before submitting the document to the Office of the Attorney-General.
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