Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016

Maximising the Benefits of Copyright

Laws andDigital Distribution in the

Entertainment Industry

The creative industries in theCaribbean continue

to grow in global recognition and even more so

in earnings. The entertainment industry is

burgeoning with several artistes, bands, actors,

and other creative professionals travelling the

world and spreading their talent to the delight of

thousands of fans. Let us drill further down into

the economics of creativity to understand why a

creative professional is paid, what value a creative

professional gives tohis or herwork versuswhat the

market is willing to pay, how tomaximise earnings

in this field, and what to do in order to sustain

those earnings.

In entertainment,muchof the tradable goods and

services are fundamentally based on IP which,

as the term suggests, has to do with ownership

of the creative and innovative products of the

mind. IP Rights (IPRs) are those rights which

give the owner of these products the opportunity

to benefit and potentially earn from the trading

of these assets. There are varying categories of

IP, which apply to all industries and professions.

article, grants exclusive rights to the author of

an original work of music, art, literature, and

drama to allow that author the chance to not

only be properly recognised and respected as the

author, but also to be compensated for use of the

work. In addition to copyright and related rights,

entertainers should also be knowledgeable about

protecting brands, merchandise and image use

through IP tools such as trademarking and

design registration. While in most forms of

IP this involves registration before the work is

considered IP, copyright is unique due to its

formality-free protection. Although protection

measures are recommended regardless, the

safety net of the law is well-appreciated by

creative professionals in a dispute. Successfully

commercialising IP is largely based on a

combination of strategic actions and business

transactions. It is recommended that a creative

professional take proactive steps to ensure that

whatever is created will be shared with the world

on his or her terms.

Step 1: Protection

The existence of the automatic, formality-free

grant of copyright is binding on all signatory

member states to the Berne Convention, an

international treaty that provides guidelines on

the treatment of copyright. This is beneficial to

all creative professionals since there is no need to

of the relevant copyright law as author/owner

of a work. Now, this situation can save you just

as much as it can be a danger to you, since the

undocumented grant of copyright means that

once the author exposes it to anyone else, there

is the potential for false claim and unauthorised

use of that creative work; and this is where

record keeping and registration for the purpose

of protection become important. Ultimately,

is done as close as possible to the actual time of

By Marissa F. Longsworth

Clearing the Hurdles

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