Book Week 2011, open up and read about copyright

Montserrat Casademunt

Book Week 2011 was officially launched this morning at the Bliss with a formal ceremony introducing the Belize Copyright Licensing Agency.  While this year’s theme focuses on nurturing creativity and protecting industry, equal emphasis is being placed on the importance of safeguarding intellectual properties.  Authors, poets and playwrights, to name a few, will benefit from membership in the newly formed organization which is tasked with educating and protecting the literati from theft of their artistic works. Speaking at the event was Montserrat Casademunt, chairperson of BECLA.

Montserrat Casademunt, Chairperson, BECLA

“BECLA is Belize’s national reproductive rights organization, R.R.O., a collective management organization established by creators and publishers to assist them in dealing with wider scale users of their works.  BECLA will act as an intermediary between the rights holders and the users of their content by providing legal access to a wide repertoire of copyrights works through licensing mechanisms whenever it is impractical or impossible for the rights holders to act individually.  These users include government ministries and agencies, schools, universities, copy shops, business establishments, N.G.O.s, professional bodies, church, libraries, research organizations, etc.  R.R.O.s are a convenient mechanism for providing a range of services to members including providing protection for members’ works internationally as well as nationally through bilateral agreements with R.R.O.s in other countries.  Each R.R.O. provides the same protection for overseas members as it does for its own domestic members.”

Highlights for Book Week 2011 began with a lecture by Shirley Carby followed by the launch of Atlas of Belize and the World by Cubola Books.  There will also be an International Book Fair featuring the works of Belizeans, Mexicans, Jamaicans and Central Americans.