Speaking during the launch of Botswana IP Policy this week, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said creative works such as traditional music, traditional attires and food and other expressions of folklore, are some items that would be used in the new order whilst at the same time protecting them to ensure they are preserved for future generations.
Masisi said Botswana has over the years made efforts to improve its IP landscape.
He also said government has strived to come up with initiatives that will push the creative sector to realise its meaningful contribution to the economy.
He stated that the creative sector comprises of men and women, Batswana, who work tirelessly to bring entertainment, joy and beauty into our lives, through music, fashion, artwork, photography, film amongst many other examples, and in doing so provide sustainable employment, especially to young people. To this end, in implementing this policy, government will take deliberate strategic interventions to promote the establishment of a resourced, competent and sustainable creative sector, he said.
Masisi stated that the country has initiatives to support the creative industry with the establishment of the Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) whose mandate is to collect and distribute royalties to members of the industry. “Just last month, we launched Btv as a multi-channel station. We are now looking to the creative sector to provide the three television channels with world class, quality content,” he said.
He continued: “We enacted intellectual property laws such as the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, 2006 and the Industrial Property Act, 2010 to strengthen protection of intellectual property and to domesticate international conventions, treaties, protocols and agreements, which provide standards for IP protection.” He said initiatives such as the National Arts Festivals showcase and recognise the artists and their efforts in economic diversification efforts as planned by government.
He explained that the results of these and other creative industry initiatives were validated in a 2018 study by the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) measuring the contribution of the copyright based industries to the GDP. The study indicated that the copyright industries make a significant contribution to the national economy of Botswana.
He said the country has also taken steps to ensure that intellectual property rights are respected and enforced. “Despite all these efforts as a nation, we have not systematically integrated the Intellectual Property system into our economy hence the need for a national IP Policy to guide the use of IP economic development of Botswana,” he added. Meanwhile, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Division for Africa Senior Counsellor, Loretta Asiedu said the IP will ensure that creatives and innovators are paid for their innovations and creations are placed at the disposal of the society. “All these creators and innovators invest sweat and toil into their ideas to give them life for the benefit of the society. How do we promote and protect their rights and reward them to ensure continuity in the cycle of innovation and creativity? This is where the intellectual property system becomes relevant.
The set of rules that gives rights to persons over the creations of their minds, usually giving the creator/innovator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time,” Asiedu said.
