Registrar General Calls for Stronger Action Against Piracy in Uganda’s Creative Sector
The Registrar General, Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho, has called for tougher measures to protect creators from piracy and copyright infringement, warning that intellectual property must be respected as much as physical property.
Speaking at the Fourth African Regional Seminar on Copyright and Related Rights in the Audio-visual Sector at Onomo Hotel, Ms. Kainobwisho stressed the need for practical results that benefit local creators. She urged the establishment of a dedicated Intellectual Property Police Unit to combat widespread infringement.
“These platforms are important, but we must act and implement. Playing music in a business, using books for training, or broadcasting films without paying is theft, the same as planting maize on someone’s land without paying rent,” she said.
Highlighting the rise of unauthorized distribution on platforms such as TikTok and WhatsApp, she revealed that the bureau is amending Uganda’s copyright law to tackle online infringement and hold offenders accountable, even casual sharers.
“No artist records music or produces a film for fun, yet many of our greatest artists die in poverty while their work is still being used,” she noted, urging Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) to strengthen licensing and royalty collection.
The Kampala seminar, following earlier editions in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Lusaka, is focused on strengthening copyright enforcement and advancing ratification of international treaties such as the Kampala Protocol and the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances.
