Breathing a new life into copyright law

MPAB says Bhutanese filmmakers should start by respecting others’ creations

Copyright infringement is rampant in Bhutanese music and film industry, yet the authorities concerned have not been able to do much to curb this problem, which filmmakers and musicians say is crippling them.

Some people say Bhutanese film producers are fiercely against others using their products without permission, but they have no qualms about using the works of others.

The secretary general of Motion Picture Association of Bhutan (MPAB), Sherub Gyaltshen, said the Bhutanese filmmakers would be taking one step towards copyright protection if they declared their adaptations from other movies by taking permission from original creators.

Many Bhutanese films are known to be adaptations of Hollywood, Korean and Bollywood films. But no filmmaker is known to have sought any permission from copyright holders.

Piracy is almost uncontrollable in the Bhutanese entertainment industry. For instance, downloading songs to mobile phones from mobile phone shops seems to be an open practice. One could walk into certain phone booths and get the latest songs copied to mobile phones for a nominal charge.

Sherub Gyaltshen said given the population size, the copyright issue in Bhutan is huge, and added that the law enforcement agencies should not turn a blind eye to this issue.

The secretary general said the weakness lies with the law enforcement agencies. Not one defaulter has been penalized adequately till date, he said.

Most cases reported were either dropped or resolved mutually not because they were weak but because they were delayed in courts. Until now, some 10 copyright cases were reported, and many went unreported.

The Copyright Act says that any infringement of a right protected under the act shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period up to one year or by a fine up to Nu 1 million, or both.

Sherub Gyaltshen said the law enforcement agencies are not aware of the value of artistic creations. He added that judiciary should be particularly efficient in dealing with copyright cases.

Meanwhile, the Intellectual Property Division (IPD) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs is soon going to start a voluntary deposit and registration system through which a certificate will be issued for copyright works, which will serve as prima facie evidence of copyright. The draft copy of the document will soon be put up to the ministry’s rule-making committee for endorsement.

The intellectual property officer of IPD, Dorji P, said one cannot expect to stop piracy taking place across the border because it is difficult to enforce the copyright law outside the country.

However, the reach of a domestic law can be extended through the membership of regional and international conventions on copyright. Bhutan joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 2004.

For example, if Bhutanese copyright works are pirated in India, protection can be sought under the convention. By the same token, the Bhutanese can be charged for adapting Bollywood music, lyrics, films or any artistic creations.

Why then is this not happening?

If this law is applied, the many video/DVD parlours in the country renting or selling pirated products can be sued and eventually closed. Even other users can be charged heavily.

IPD has conducted sensitization and awareness programmes in schools, and for local artists and the public. Workshops have also been conducted for stakeholders like MPAB, police, customs, Indian counterparts, and the judiciary. Dorji P said all these efforts have not proved effective due to weak law enforcement.

IPD had earlier proposed to frame a guideline on the functions of the enforcement agencies but it didn’t come through due to lack of consensus among stakeholders.

Presently, IPD is working on amending the law during which a guideline for effective enforcement will be incorporated.

Meanwhile, MPAB has suggested to IPD to look into the possibility of including a lesson on copyright in the school curriculum.

MPAB has also proposed to IPD to set up a separate unit, collective management organization (CMO), which will take care of the copyright issues for both films and music. With this system in place, copyright products users like drayangs, radios, bars, cable operators, and reality shows, among others, will have to acquire a blanket CMO licence from the ministry. The CMO will collect revenue at a certain interval from them, which will be distributed to right holders.

Once CMO is operational, before issuing a licence for entertainment centres, Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority will have to ensure that interested individuals have obtained a CMO licence.

By Sonam Pelden