Government looking at Copyright Bill changes

Minister of Legal Affairs Danny Montano said Government was reviewing the proposed amendments to the Copyright Bill and he was awaiting confirmation from the DPP’s office and the Chief Parliamentary Council, after which he would hasten to take the bill to Cabinet and on to Parliament. The amendments to the Bill include training for the police and Customs in international property (IP) rights; specialised units to deal with IP enforcement, where the expertise can be concentrated and retained, and employing IP specialists in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Montano made the disclosure at the opening of a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights For Enforcement Agencies at the Crowne Plaza yesterday. “In Trinidad and Tobago, it has been estimated annual losses to local artistes and performers due to piracy, exceeds $300 million.

“It is estimated that losses overseas of pirated local music are also several million dollars, and some of our artistes, notably David Rudder, are now saying they would not publish their works in Trinidad and Tobago because of the extent of piracy,” Montano said. Assistant Police Commissioner Winston Cooper, who also addressed the workshop, said the law enforcement response to intellectual property crimes has been considered a low priority to police because of the lack of information on handling such offences. “The police need to liaise with trade standards and trade bodies in order to operate successfully and be able to take the opportunity to disrupt organised crime,” said Cooper.

He added that the police were making every effort to bring the illegal street peddlars under the ambit of the law, and with collaboration and co-operation this could be achieved. His views were echoed by Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson, who said that no real silver bullet exists for those who infringe the rights of others. The workshop which opened yesterday was staged by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organis-ation. The workshop is designed to strengthen the training in IP enforcement already received by local law enforcement agencies, and will explore topical issues such as counterfeiting, piracy and trademark and patent infringements.