National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Stirrings Of Action

In keeping with international norms, the Nepalese government signals a willingness to uphold intellectual property rights

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Amid clamors of protests from creators and manufacturers over the rising cases of piracy and violations of intellectual property rights in the country, the government has shown willingness to tackle the problem head on.

"We have enacted a new legislation last year to protect copyrights and we are preparing to introduce regulations to implement it," said Riddhi Baba Pradhan, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. "We are also setting up a separate Copyright Registration Office soon."

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At a program held last week on the enforcement of copyright and related rights, Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Kuber Sharma also said that the government is preparing to join the Berne Convention and other related treaties to ensure intellectual property rights. "We are aware that the most dangerous consequence of not upholding these rights will mean total discouragement of creativity, among others."

The program was organized by World Intellectual Property Rights Organization (WIPO), in cooperation with Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Copyright Protection Society of Nepal (CPSN) and Japan Copyright Office (JCO). More than 50 officials from different organizations, including the attorney-general's office, court, police, customs and stakeholders, including artistes, writers, performers, took part in the two-day program from February 26-27.

Intellectual property (IP) rights refer to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories: industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs and geographic indications of source and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures and architectural designs.

The violation of IP rights in Nepal is a serious and growing problem. Until a few years ago, awareness of the need to protect IP rights was almost non-existent. Presently, due to several initiatives, the level of awareness is rising. The government has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to look after the aspects of copyright protection. Likewise, Department of Industry looks after the industrial property aspects.

"The violation of copyright and intellectual property rights hurts the national economy as well. The pirates, who do not pay revenue to the government, will take undue advantage and they are the lone beneficiaries," said Santosh Sharma, general secretary of the CPSN.

It was at the initiative of Sharma and other like-minded individuals that the government finally drafted the new Copyright Protection Act 2002. "But in the absence of regulations, it has not been implemented yet," said Sharma.

"Nepal is one of the few countries in the region that has been constantly making efforts to modernize legislative and administrative tools with the view to reap benefits from the protection of copyrights and related rights," said Ranjana Avasekhara, senior counselor, Asia-Pacific Region for the WIPO. He said that there has been an upsurge in the trafficking of counterfeited and pirated goods even as there is rising awareness on IP rights. "Piracy, if left unchecked, will negatively affect the economy as well as society over the time."

Officials put in tens of millions the money lost due to piracy and other infringement of intellectual property rights in the country. The proper monitoring and control of piracy and promotion of intellectual property rights is expected to boost trade and creativity in the country.

"Besides at a time when Nepal is trying to get the membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and enter the free trade regime, it will be prudential on our part to get ready for coping against piracy as WTO gives special emphasis on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which is soon coming into force," said Sharma.