Namibian artists are confused about what copyright and intellectual property are and why it is important to register their work, Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam) Chief Executive Officer, Eino-John Max, has said.

Nascam administers the rights of authors, composers and publishers of music in Namibia and currently has over 7 000 registered artists.

Max told Nampa on Wednesday that Nascam is responsible for administering its members’ rights by registering their musical work, with the primary goal of collecting and distributing royalties to individual rights holders or serving the interests of authors, composers and publishers of music.

“Intellectual property rights are economic benefit rights generated when objects or tangible properties are created, and these rights are divided into two categories – copyright and industrial property rights. Copyright only protects expressions and not ideas, it protects ‘originality’ but not ideas,” he said.

Max stated that registering any creative work with Nascam is critical in order to benefit from legal protection as well as economic and moral benefits. He further explained that Nascam does not register performers such as singers or vocalists, and only registers songwriters, composers and music publishers.

“The registered works are protected under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act for as long as the registrant is alive and for 50 years after their death,” he explained.

Max further stated that artists benefit from the royalties and fees collected by Nascam for registered music, hence it is in their interest to register.

In order to raise awareness of this issue, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) hosted a stakeholder conference on the draft copyright and related rights bill in November 2021, with the goal of ensuring that the new law speaks to Namibia’s current needs and is aligned with international best practice frameworks on copyright and related rights.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency