Call to amend act

A senior law lecturer is calling on Government to amend the Copyright Act.
Head of the newly opened Intellectual Property (IP) Unit at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Eddy Ventose, said the amendment would provide greater protection for educational institutions like the UWI, primary and secondary schools, and the Barbados Community College.
His call comes less than a month after the Barbados Copyright Agency (B-Copy) threatened legal action against UWI for copyright infringement. B-Copy chairman Antonio “Boo” Rudder said the agency made every effort to avoid the law courts and that it only wanted Cave Hill to pay for a licence that would cost it about US$8.42 per student per year.
“With the current debate concerning the copyright protection and licensing by UWI, it is important that sight is not lost of the fact that we are in the business of creating knowledge and imparting knowledge. To the extent that that is restricted to an applicable extent,
it is imperative that the Government amend the Copyright Act to provide greater protection for educational institutions . . . . A careful balance must be struck to ensure that the education of Barbadians is not hampered while at the same time respecting the intellectual property rights of authors,” Ventose said in a paper.
Read the full story in today’s MIDWEEK NATION.