— SANTOSH SHARMA

santosh
Santosh Sharma is the general secretary of Copyright Protection Society of Nepal (CPSN). He is also the director of the country’s largest music company – Music Nepal. Sharma has long experience in dealing with the issues of copyrights in the country. He spoke to SANJAYA DHAKAL about various facets of copyright and the status of its protection in the country. Excerpts:

What is the present legal status of copyright protection in the country?

The Copyright Protection Act 2002 has come into force after it received the royal seal on August 16, 2002. But there is no regulation. In the absence of regulation, it is not possible to implement the letter and spirit of the act. As such, there is no material difference in the situation before and after the introduction of the new act. Definitely, the act has provided us with a basis. After the regulations are adopted, we will then have mechanisms and machinery to implement it.

When will the regulations come out, then?

Already a task force has been formed by the government to draft the regulation. Officials from the law and culture ministries and myself are members of that task force. We have also held few meetings of this task force. In fact, I am currently studying regulations of different countries. We also want to first organize a public discussion inviting the stake-holders so that we will get their version and incorporate them in the regulations. Then, we would submit our conclusions to the government for final scrutiny and adoption. I guess the process could take two months.

What will be the opportunities for the creators once this act is fully enforced?

This act has been introduced for the sake of creators only. The basic objective of the act is to protect their creativity. Different units will be set up to realize it. According to the act, a separate entity called Royalty Collecting Society – whose shareholders will be the creators themselves – will be formed. This society will be headed by an independent management team appointed by shareholders. This team will then be responsible for monitoring as well as collecting all royalty as prescribed by the law. The royalty, thus collected, will ultimately be distributed to the respective creators based on certain standard. This distribution standard is an international software that will be provided by WIPO.

Since TRIPS will come into force in 2006, how do you find our preparation in that direction?

The TRIPS involves both the copyright as well as industrial property rights. As far as copyright is concerned, the latest act is fairly compatible with the TRIPS provisions and we have also joined the Berne Convention. In the field of industrial property rights too, there are initiatives to draft a new act. Besides, Nepal has also joined the Paris Convention in this regard. Indeed, there are many controversial things that still remain to be clarified like in the case of biodiversity, folklore and so on. We are very backward in this point. I think we should be able to take maximum advantage of our knowledge.

What is the history of copyright protection in Nepal?

The earliest official mention of copyright violation was made by then minister and great poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota. In his visit to then Soviet Union in 1959 he had mentioned that Nepalese creators were suffering due to copyright violation. For the first time in 1965, the government introduced Copyright Protection Act. Bhim Nidhi Tiwari was the registrar to deal with copyright issues that time. But that act focused merely on literature and film. Besides, this act provided for protection to only those creations that were duly registered. However in the international arena, the copyright has a long history. In 1709, there was the Statute of Anne, which is regarded as the first legislative intervention to protect copyright. When I established Music Nepal company in 1982, I got a rude shock. Just as our music were getting popular, we were being seriously affected by piracy. Then law provided very limited scope to penalize the culprits. Ever since I launched a crusade against piracy together with like-minded friends. We set up the Copyright Protection Society of Nepal. It was in 1996 that WIPO approached me with proposals for training. I received various training in this field and then we focused on bringing in new act. Fortunately, we managed to introduce new act this year. Now we have to move towards the second phase that involves the setting up of infrastructures and training of manpower. For effective implementation, we need to have capable manpower in police as well as customs. We are working in this area and have been assured of cooperation from WIPO and other foreign countries.