World Intellectual Property Organization discuss future of copyright

Mary-Ann Richards

Book Week 2011 is currently underway and this year the emphasis is being placed on intellectual property rights.  On Friday, the Belize Copyright Licensing Agency was formally introduced and in keeping with the series of events scheduled for the celebration, a public presentation was held this morning.  Guest speaker at the forum was Mary Ann Richards, the regional consultant and coordinator of the World Intellectual Property Organization.  She spoke on the need for awareness and about the pros and cons of the global intellectual property system.

Mary-Ann Richards, Regional Consultant, WIPO

“Everybody in the world is either a creator of Intellectual Property or a user of intellectual property. So you need to build the awareness of their knowledge of it: if they own it, how they protect it, how they exploit it—because it has very often financial implications. You can make a living now because it is knowledge-based, you can actually make a living from the skills and talents that you have. So we need to create that awareness at all levels because it is going to affect your policies, it affects your education system. Who do you create and how do you create your people who will be your poets, your authors, your song writers, your calypsonians, your engineers, your inventors. So it goes across the board and touches almost every sector of the society. Sports people tell me that there is certain things that I.P. doesn’t touch on and I said you call one sector or industry or ministry for me and I will show you how it is relevant. People tell me sports; critically important. We all know about sportsmen who have become multimillionaires not because they are playing on field, but because of all the I.P. rights that they have—whether it’s in their image, in the clothing that they sell, that carry their brand name, their mark, etc.”

Another meeting with stakeholders of intellectual property on culture, copyright and innovation is scheduled for April thirteenth at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts.