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8 - ‘Justice Be Our Shield and Defender’: An Intellectual Property Rights Regime for Africa*
Africa Development, 2010
Protecting intellectual property rights has become essential in encouraging cut- ting-edge scholarship that advances the frontiers of knowledge. For a long time, the majority of Africa’s intelligentsia has worked in local and international envi- ronments that have exploited the continent’s intellectual capital. Even in con- texts where intellectual property rights are enforced, certain constituencies re- main at high risk for exploitation. In this paper I use three case studies to argue for a more comprehensive conversation on this issue encompassing intellectu- als working in different contexts and with diverse agendas. The first of these involves the unequal power dynamics between individuals working in different kinds of institutions, in this particular case, complicated by the global North/ South divide. The second explores the dynamics of power in intellectual rela- tionships while the third deals with the challenges emanating from the develop- ment and use of endogenous episte...
Review of African Political Economy, 2018
Orthodox copyright scholarship frames piracy in ‘developing’ countries as a detrimental and illegal practice that results from these countries’ lack of economic, social and cultural development. It argues that piracy needs to be discouraged, regulated, and finally overcome for legitimate business to flourish. In this article, the authors challenge this viewpoint and question whether the implementation of international copyright instruments in legislation across Africa really promotes those local economies or if it merely exposes them to neo-colonial exploitation. While the early international treaties on intellectual property rights (IPR) were formulated by European states and implemented in most parts of Africa through colonial laws, more recent legislation has been globally implemented through institutions such as the United Nations or the World Trade Organization, which remain dominated by Western interests. Through a structured overview of the adoption of IPR treaties in African countries, the authors advance a political economy perspective of intellectual property rights as a (neo-)colonial regime. Les membres de l’école traditionnelle sur les questions de droits d’auteurs mettent en avant le piratage dans les pays « en développement » comme une pratique préjudiciable et illégale qui résulte du manque de développement économique, social et culturel de ces pays. Ils soutiennent que le piratage doit être découragé, réglementé et finalement surmonté pour que le commerce légitime puisse prospérer. À travers cet article, nous remettons en question ce point de vue et nous nous demandons si la mise en place de mesures internationales relatives au droit d’auteur dans la législation à travers le continent africain, favorise réellement ces économies locales ou si elles ne font que les exposer à l’exploitation néo-coloniale. Alors que les premiers traités internationaux sur les droits de propriété intellectuelle étaient formulés par des États européens puis appliqués à travers la plupart des régions d’Afrique à travers les lois coloniales, plus récemment la législation a été globalement mise en oeuvre par des institutions telles que l’Organisation des Nations unies ou l’Organisation mondiale du commerce, qui restent dominées par les intérêts occidentaux. À travers une vue d’ensemble structurée de l’adoption des traités sur les droits de propriété intellectuelle dans les pays africains, nous mettons en avant une perspective d’économie politique des droits de propriété intellectuelle en tant que régime (néo-)colonial.
The Arts, Africa and Economic Development: the problem of Intellectual Property Rights
Journal of Law, Social Justice & Global Development, 2016
The subject of this article is the application of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) to Africa's cultural economy, and its implications for development. Drawing on extensive research, including field work in Africa and interviews with key people in the field, the study explores the concept, definitions and various ways in which Intellectual Property is formulated, particularly with regard the production and international trade in cultural goods. The paper tackles two widespread assumptions: the first is that Intellectual Property is a necessary condition of successful cultural production; and second, that Intellectual Property is antithetical to African culture-that an effective Intellectual Property regime in Africa is inoperable. On the first point, the paper observes Africa's extraordinary levels of cultural production, without substantial IP protections; and on the second point, it explains that while property rights in Africa are complex, an effective IP regime could indeed be devised. With reference to various events and projects by the World Bank and others, the author sets out the necessary conditions for an IRP development in Africa.
The Ourobouros of Intellectual Property: Ethics, Law, and Policy in Africa
2007
Abstract: Because law, policy, and ethics are multiply intertwined, developments in any one of these areas can affect what happens in each of the others. Thus those interested in African information ethics will find it valuable to examine trends in law and policy–and those concerned about legal trends should acknowledge effective leadership when it comes from the direction of ethical practices.
The Intellectual Property Treaty Landscape in Africa, 1885 to 2015
Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. International commitments harmonized in intellectual property treaties exist in tension with local needs for flexibility. Using a novel data collection and visualization method, this paper tracks the adoption of IP treaties on the continent of Africa over a 130-year period from 1885-2015. Our analysis highlights empirical data at four distinct points in time coinciding with events in African and international IP law (1935, 1965, 1995, and 2015). We explore relevant historical and legal aspects of each period to assess the evolution of the IP treaty landscape in context. Our findings show that treaties now saturate the IP policy space throughout the continent, limiting the ability to locally tailor approaches to knowledge governance.
Cultural property, which is the pillar of civilisation and peoples’ identities, has been displaced through colonisation, plunder and massive theft; causing irreplaceable loss of valuable information on mankind. Return and restitution of cultural property is achievable under the 1970 United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organisation Convention (UNESCO Convention) and the 1995 International Institute for the Unification of Private Law Convention (UNIDROIT Convention). However, the action steps African states need to take to derive maximum benefits from these Conventions have not attracted much scholarly attention. This study, therefore, examined the return and restitution of cultural property in some African states, under the UNESCO and UNIDROIT Conventions, with a view to determining their ratification rates, domestication and implementation. The factors hindering the efficacy of both Conventions in selected African states were also investigated. The study adopted jurisprudential theories of natural law, historicism and sociological school and applied legal research methodology. Primary data used were the UNESCO and UNIDROIT Conventions, Constitutions of randomly selected five African states with provisions protecting cultural heritage, cultural heritage legislations of 27 African states and 38 other international instruments. Key informant interviews were conducted with the legal officers involved in the drafting of the UNIDROIT Convention at UNIDROIT secretariat in Rome and heritage law practitioners and scholars at the Art Law Centre, University of Geneva. In-depth interviews were also conducted with politicians, lawyers, judges and members of the public in Ibadan metropolis. Secondary data consulted included legal texts on cultural property and policy documents. Data were subjected to interpretive and comparative analyses. As at December 2014, only 70.4% and 3.7% of the selected African states had ratified the UNESCO and the UNIDROIT Conventions respectively. None of the States had any legislation specifically aimed at domesticating the provisions of both Conventions. Largely, the provisions of both Conventions have not been implemented. Although South Africa ratified the UNESCO Convention in 2003, the enactment of The National Heritage Resources Act, 1999 predated it. There is no difference in the legislation of states such as Egypt, Nigeria and Zimbabwe that had ratified the UNESCO Convention concerning return and restitution of cultural property and those that had not (Ethiopia, Benin and Kenya). For example, both Kenya’s Antiquities Act 1983 and Egyptian Law viii 117 of 1983 declared state ownership of cultural property. Lack of awareness among politicians, lawyers and the populace about the benefits derivable from the Conventions, coupled with lack of priority given to the issue of return and restitution of cultural property were some of the factors hindering the efficacy of the Conventions in the African states. Many African states are yet to maximise the benefits derivable from the UNESCO and UNIDROIT Conventions by not ratifying, domesticating and implementing their provisions. The States need to take steps to enact cultural property specific legislations, strengthen their enforcement mechanisms and maintain control over the cultural property within their territories. Keywords: Return and restitution of cultural property, Cultural property in African states, 1970 UNESCO Convention, 1995 UNIDROIT Convention.