The Story within the Story…New copyright laws and Dale Andrews

Jun 05, 2016 News

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By Leonard Gildarie
As I was writing this piece yesterday morning, I received the devastating news that my colleague and dear

friend, Dale Andrews, from Kaieteur News, passed away. I immediately scrambled to make changes. I knew Dale was complaining of feeling unwell. It is a huge blow to the family at Kaieteur News.
Dale relished in getting scoops and crowing about it. He loved the police force and was a staunch defender and critic at the same time. He was an example of how far journalists would go to get the stories, leaving late, coming early, sleeping and eating at his desk. He reveled in it. He enjoyed every moment of it. He loved his children and family, and had a keen eye for the story while aiming at perfection. He would constantly harass the younger reporters to improve.
My topic today on copyright had a lot to do with Dale. He started out in radio and loved covering the Mash calypso competitions. He kept complaining of how little we did for our singers and the fact that radio stations, especially the state-owned one, had turned their backs.
For years now, we have been hearing of the need to protect our assets. From our forests, to our gold and lands, and now oil, the talks have been plenty. We conceded our taxes, large portions of it, to investors, with the hopes that benefits would redound. But it has largely been that – talks.
We have failed to introduce measures and systems that would have ensured that firstly Guyana benefitted. Our guardians at the gate created and fostered a system that allowed both a formal and informal economy to bloom side by side. Some even say the underground economy is larger than the formal one.
We have found that 50 years later, after independence, we have failed to capitalize on opportunities. The 80’s were dark and the 90’s brought renewed hope. Then there was the large scramble to grab up land and contracts and state properties? Did Guyana get the best deal?
We paid the price. The city fell to a new low, with citizens jokingly referring to it as the “Garbage City”. Crime and corruption seemed the order of the day.
We celebrated 50 years of independence recently. I wanted…Guyana wanted its talents to be showcased. We had our steel-pans, soldiers marching, singing, the flag-raising and fireworks. Thousands of Guyanese came home.
Guyana Stores will tell you, and so will many of the other business places like Matt’s Record Bar, of good business. The hotels are glad too.
WHERE WAS EDDY?
Missing from the entire show was one of Guyana’s biggest stars…Edmond Montague “Eddy” Grant. It would have been fitting for Eddy Grant to perform. He was not there. He has made it big in the UK and around the world with hits such as “Electric Avenue” and “Gimme Hope Jo’anna”.

The artiste has been passionate and highly critical over the years in pushing for consecutive Governments to pass updated legislation that would offer protection for the music industry. I am unable to confirm reports that he took a principled stance and decided not to take part.
We see little Trinidad and Tobago next door that offers so much more for singers. You would dare not be caught with pirated CDs and DVDs. They pay their Calypso and Soca Monarchs millions. They are not hand-to-mouth. That little island, like the US and other countries around the world, has taken steps to protect its own.
In Guyana, it is a Wild West situation.
We have a law dating back to the 60’s, where if someone is found guilty today of selling a pirated CD of someone’s album, he or she can only be fined a ridiculous, grand sum of $12. We go to any number of roadside stalls, and even in stores, and pick up a good copy of a recent movie or an 80’s album by Michael Jackson for a measly $300. In the US, this may cost upwards of US$50 ($10,000).
We have cable television companies and even regular broadcasters who are taking stuff directly from the source companies like CBS, CNN and ESPN, and rebroadcasting it here without paying a cent.
So why has the previous government not been so enthusiastic about passing new laws?
I had raised this issue in the past and was told that the matter is more complex than it appears. It involved issues like intellectual property rights – which has to do with patents and branding Part of that law includes one addressing copyright. However, it does not address instances of the internet or digital music.
For example, my friend from Berbice copies a song of Rihanna to her computer and phone and sends it via Whatsapp or email to me. The law does not address that.
Now someone may ask the question of why pass laws when its current weak state benefits so many? It provides jobs for the pushcarts and others, including at the TV and cable stations which pirates the programmes.
NO EXCUSES
It allows us to copy text books with impunity and pay our artistes next to nothing because one of their albums sells for a mere $300. The answers are very simple. Most countries have passed laws that make it a serious crime. It is tantamount to robbery under arms and a home invasion.
We cannot, if we want to portray ourselves as a law-abiding country, use the argument that because it is cheaper to photocopy text books for schools, that is why we have not passed copyright laws.
Do we know how hard artistes work to write, sing and promote their music?
I saw the video on Poonam Singh’s “G.U.Y.A.N.A” and wondered what she will be getting from it, except good kudos. We could eventually face a lawsuit and even sanctions, an embarrassment to our country.
I called Ruel Johnson, the Cultural Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Education. There is good news, according to the official. The administration has been working to prepare draft legislation.
A stakeholder working group is being established that will examine the local environment, current laws, and the international conventions and obligations.
Guyana will be hoping to get help from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to prepare the legislation.
According to Johnson, it is the hope that a draft document could be available for further fine-tuning by late July. There is so much more that has to be said with this. We need to protect what is ours.
We look to the US and other first world countries and see the measures that are taken to protect the artistes and their work. We have to constantly look to improve what we have…whether it is cleaning our city, training our workers and even criticizing our government to ensure that they fully understand the promise that was made about change.
RIP Dale!

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