THE BARBADOS COPYRIGHT AGENCY INC. (B-Copy) continues to hold off bringing an injunction against the Ministry of Education.
Chairman of the agency, Antonio “Boo” Rudder, told the DAILY NATION yesterday that the ministry, which is the chief offender of the Copyright Act, had still not applied for the necessary licence which would legally give students in schools under its control permission to use protected works.
Rudder said B-Copy was still willing to work with the ministry and other defaulting institutions to get them to comply, rather than going the legal route.
“We can’t wait ad infinitum,” Rudder cautioned. “We can’t say that we are any further in terms of an agreement . . . We are looking to turn on all the pressure that we could,” he added.
The organization held a meeting at the Lester Vaughan School recently at which teachers from the various secondary schools were sensitized about intellectual property and the implications.
Another such meeting is on the cards.
In an effort to encourage compliance, Rudder said B-Copy had waived the individual fee for primary school students and had proposed a $10 fee for each secondary school student.
Acting deputy chief education officer Joy Gittens said the ministry was still in discussions and had not yet come to a definitive position on whether it would be applying for the licence and on the fee to be paid for each student.
Section 58, Subsection (2) of the Copyright Act, Chapter 300 makes provision for the use of five per cent of a body of work over a three-month period. A licence is required in territories where a reprographic rights organization is in operation.
