GANJA RIGHTS CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM ALL OTHER RASTAFARI RELATED RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY! RASTAFARI INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ACT 2014 - RASTAFARI REFERENDUM REASONING 8-31-2014 August 12, 2014 at 5:29pm The Rastafari Cultural and Intellectual Property Protection Act 2014 Object of Bill The purpose of this law is to protect Rastafari cultural and intellectual property rights, including Rastafari traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, such as Rastafari images in pictures, figures, symbols, illustrations, as well as the cultural elements of their history, music, art, craft and traditional artistic expressions, through a special registration and authentication system, in order to prevent unauthorised usage and exploitation of Rastafari cultural and intellectual properties and instead foster the consensual use of the said properties, for the just and economic benefit of Rastafari and by extension Jamaica. This Act shall be cited as the Rastafari Cultural and Intellectual Property Protection Act 2014. Interpretation:- The customs, traditions, beliefs, spirituality, religiosity, folkloric expressions, artistic manifestations, traditional knowledge and any other type of traditional expressions of the Rastafari communities, constitute part of their cultural assets and therefore cannot be the object of any form of exclusive intellectual property right by unauthorised third parties unless the application is filed by the Rastafari community. Objects of protection Registrable objects susceptible of protection, as this Law determines to protect their originality and authenticity, are deemed to be collective rights. These Rastafari cultural and IP rights shall be collective rights, capable of registration with the Jamaica IP Office, by the EADUMC on behalf of the collective Rastafari community. The registration of the collective rights of the Rastafari communities will notexpire, neither will it have duration. The Rastafari Intellectual Property Authority (RIPA) is hereby (shall be) established for the purposes of this Act. All individuals and entities desirous of using, recording, photographing, or incorporating any Rastafari TK or TCEs for their own purposes, shall be required to apply to the RIPA for permission to so use any aspect of Rastafari TK or TCEs. RIPA may charge a one-time fee or recurring fee and/or may enter into benefit-sharing agreements for issuing said permission for the use of Rastafari IP and may limit the term/duration of said authorized use of same, as well as impose any other reasonable conditions, including the usual Ip rights of proper accreditation, respect for moral rights, respect for integrity and where applicable secrecy of certain aspects of Rastafari TK and TCEs and respect for the principle of prior informed consent. RIPA may waive any fee or part thereof and condition in relation to an application by a member of the Rastafari faith Where any desired use of Rastafari IP is wholly non-commercial, no fee shall be charged by RIPA, save and except for authentication services provided if any. Whether any desired use is wholly non-commercial shall be conclusively determined by RIPA after allowance is made for the applicant to explain otherwise. RIPA shall also perform authentication services in relation to Rastafari products and services. For authentication purposes, RIPA shall formulate, after official written consultation with and consent of the EADUMC, a certification mark by which all genuine Rastafari artistic work, dress, art, craft, music or other form of Rastafari cultural intellectual property is certified by RIPA to have been made by means of the traditional Rastafari procedures and or by Rastafari hands. For this purpose, the RIPA is authorised to inspect the workshops, materials, finished products and procedures used, as well as to interview the relevant persons involved in its creation. The importation and/or sale of non-original products, recorded, embroidered, weaved or any other articles that imitate, in whole or partly, the making of the traditional art, craft, clothes, music, instruments and artistic works of the Rastafari, shall be an offence under this Act. The possession of non-genuine Rastafari products that imitate in whole or part, the traditional art, craft, clothes, music, instruments and artistic works of the Rastafari communities, shall be an offence under this Act. Of the Customs and/or Court fines imposed on persons found in breach of the preceding section, fifty percent (50%) will be for the benefit of the Consolidated Fund and the other fifty percent (50%) will be for the benefit of the Rastafari community, as represented by the EADUMC. The reproduction, either total or partial, of the traditional art, craft, clothes, music, instruments and artistic works of the Rastafari and other collective rights recognized in this Law, shall be an offence under this Act, unless it is authorised by the RIPA. All offences under this Act shall be punishable in the first instance by a fine not exceeding $100,000.00 and in the case of a second or subsequent breach, by a fine not exceeding $500,000.00 and or one year imprisonment at hard labour. Any fines imposed may be in addition to the forfeiture and destruction of the products in violation of this Act. The rights recognized and granted in this Act shall be subject to intellectual property rights which exist prior to December 31, 2007, provided that the owner of any such pre-existing intellectual property rights which may be said to incorporate any aspect of Rastafari culture and intellectual property, shall enter in an agreement with the Rastafari community as represented by the Ethio-Africa Diaspora Union Millennium Council for the Rastafari community to benefit from all future exploitation of same. If the said owner refuses to so enter into an agreement, the Council shall have the authority to apply for the cancellation of any such intellectual property right including copyright, trademark, patent, trade, as well as any business or company name. The Ministry of Commerce and Technology and Ministry of Tourism and Culture shall ensure the participation of Rastafari artists and craftsmen and women in national and international fairs and the exposure of their handcrafts to national and international markets. In the national and international presentations of the Jamaican indigenous culture, the exhibition and expressions of Rastafari culture, shall be approved by RIPA. The Ministry of Education shall include in the national school curriculum contents related to the history, customs, values and artistic and traditional expressions of the Rastafari communities, approved by RIPA, as an integral part of the national culture. SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS TO JAMAICAS EXISTING IP LAWS (1)In order to be capable of copyright protection, the subject matter need not meet criteria of originality, fixation, nor intended for trade, as a condition for its protection. It should however be traditional, that is, have been created for traditional purposes, be inter-generational, pertain to a particular traditional community and be collectively held, such “traditionality” criterion to be determined by the community itself according to our traditional authorities and customary law. (2) The communities shall own and exercise the intellectual property rights themselves, through their own organizations or organizations of their choice. The community may however authorise (licence) an individual or group of individuals, whether members of the community or not, to exploit some or all rights in any of the traditional cultural expressions. Additionally, individual creators may, with authorization from the community, be allowed to own and/or exercise rights on trust for the community, or enter into benefit sharing agreements with the community. (3) The IP rights should not be lost nor expire. Protection should be indefinite. (4) As regards previous unauthorized registration of community traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), community rights should be retroactive, possibly with a grace period to allow registered proprietors to enter into benefit-sharing agreements with the community. (5) In the absence of an international treaty at this time, the national law should provide for protection of TK and TCEs, wherever, by legislating that the Rastafari community may seek protection and enforcement of our TCE rights in Jamaica, irregardless of where the TCEs are being misappropriated. (6) The communities must be able to prevent and/or challenge the registration of their traditional words as copyright and their traditional signs, symbols, emblems and logos, as trademarks by others. (7) The administration and enforcement of the rights should vest in the community itself, represented RIPA Rastafari organization, with the requisite government and international (WIPO, UNESCO) assistance being given to the community to train personnel and staff and fund the Authority. The Authority would be responsible for the administration and enforcement of Traditional Knowledge and establish the regime for full disclosure, prior informed consent and benefit sharing in relation to TK. The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) would play a major role in the implementation of any TK/TCE law as well as in the awareness-raising and training programmes for Governmental officials and the public, including the traditional communities and the private sector.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 13:04:08 +0000
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