The protection of Traditional Knowledge in Uganda
Uganda’s copyrights laws and Intellectual Property Rights stem from the British copyright and ordinance of 1915, the copyright act of 1956 and from its intellectual property regime.Quoting Okello Ogwang (Sillars, Johannessen and Dipio 2009), Uganda’s legislation on copyrights and intellectual property rights simply customized the British copyright and intellectual property legal regimes and therefore, unable to cover the non-Western intangible artistic and cultural forms like African Oral Tradition.
The legislation accord minimal recognition to local and indigenous cultural forms and place high premium to Western models of authorship and ownership.The 1964 Copyright Act restricted authorship to only cinemography and written works at the expense of oral tradition and intangible folklore forms. The copyright and neighboring rights 2006, under the section work eligible for copyrights, at the end of a long list it remotely mentions “any other work in field of literature, traditional folklore and knowledge.Unlike in other types of works of Art, the law doesn’t present any details on production, presentation and distribution along which protection of traditional knowledge can be operationalised.
It is observed for instance that the commercial and especially advertisement sector in Uganda exploit forms of folklore and oral tradition without any legal or ethical restrain.The traditional knowledge in Uganda is not protected and there are no efforts yet to that effect. What exist is a one sided debate among the lawyers on whether Traditional Knowledge and folklore can qualify for protection under the copyrights and intellectual property regimes.
The lawyers agree that the traditional knowledge doesn’t fit in the criteria and standards set to define who can be protected, what can be protected and for how long it can be protected.The issues that disqualify traditional knowledge for protection under intellectual property principles are as follows;1. Ownership and authorship. While in copyright the author must be clearly known and identifiable, in traditional knowledge it is more often very difficult to identify the author. The creator is not known.2. While copyright aim at rewarding and encouraging individual creativity, traditional knowledge emphasize the collective interests and ownership.3. The principle of originality also doesn’t stand in the case of traditional knowledge which often is built by cumulative additions by many people of different generations.4. While in copyright the work must be written, recorded or reduced to material form, traditional knowledge is more often oral and if it is written it can not have been done by original author.5. Equally, the principle of duration as applied on copyright laws cannot be applied on different forms of Traditional Knowledge.
The emerging questions in the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore
In attempt to develop protection of traditional knowledge, there are challenging questions that begin to emerge.What would be the definition of public domain in the context of African Traditional knowledge and folklore? Such definition should consider the African traditional systems of authorship, ownership, hereditary and intergenerational transfer of information. Who is the author of a piece of folklore which has existed for generations passed on by word of mouth? A piece of art could be created by imaginations of one person exclusively or by collective contributions. One piece may be an anthology of many contributors.
Who should claim authorship of a dying traditional art piece, the initial author or the one who re-invents, adds value and makes it relevant to today’s world? How do we reconcile the need to maintain authenticity and demand to adapt to new circumstances?What do we do with important forms of traditional heritage being condemned by emerging beliefs and value systems and some forms of traditional knowledge being pirated from one society to another.
Recommendations
It is recommended that first and foremost, efforts should be focused on mobilizing the communities to reclaim the value and vitality of traditional knowledge and re-integrate it in the mainstream development process.The traditional and cultural institutions in Uganda like the four major kingdoms (Buganda, Bunyoro, Tooro and Busoga) the chiefdoms like Kooki, Rwenzururu, Tien Adhola, Woni Nyachi and traditional clans should be encouraged to focus on their natural mandate of conserving and developing the traditional values and heritage.
The civil society and non governmental organization as facilitators of development should increase their focus on development of traditional knowledge. The role of civil society of building local and international networks, organizing the sector, generating demand for protection and directing public opinion on developing traditional knowledge is clearly missing.
A programme called Traditional Knowledge Development Programme has been conceptualized by practitioners with a mission of mobilizing communities to engage in a conscious process of organizing, re-inventing, securing, protecting and re-constructing traditional knowledge in the contemporary development. The programme shall coordinate and network practitioners from different components in traditional knowledge like folklore, traditional herbs/medicines, indigenous languages and music. It shall build networks for enhancing collective vision and voice in the sector and to catalyze organization development and protection of traditional knowledge.
A study should be carried out to look into the possibility of developing a unique intellectual property regime for the traditional knowledge in Uganda.A digital database system of traditional knowledge should be developed inUganda to safeguard against inappropriate use and piracy of Ugandan Traditional knowledge. Model case studies of such systems in developing countries include; Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – India and National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Department of Science and Technology, South Africa.
References
- Akubu Jeroline (2005). Challenges of current copyright regimes in protecting indigenous knowledge and African traditions. Uganda Law Reform Commission. Kampala – Uganda
- BBC story. The tragedy of dying languages.
- BBC, 2009. Saving Native American languages. Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7964016.stm
- Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda 2008. Culture in development inUganda: Experiences and prospects. Kampala – Uganda.
- Interview with James Wasula – Executive Secretary of Uganda Performing Rights Association on 3rd July, 2010 in Kampala – Uganda
- Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social development, 2009. UgandaNational Cultural Policy. Kampala – Uganda.
- Sillars S, Johannessen L, Dipio D (eds.) 2009. Performing Change. Novus Press, Oslo.
- COMPAS endogenous development magazine 2009.
- Uganda Copyright and Neighboring Act, 2006