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Jackie Jaxx, D’Ivan seekIng audience with Culture Minister to discuss copyright reform in Guyana
Kaieteur News – Guyanese musicians Jackie Jaxx and D’Ivan have dispatched a letter to Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. to begin talks on copyright reform in Guyana.
Guyanese musicians Jackie ‘Jackie Jaxx’ Hanover and Ivan D’Ivan Harry.
According to a statement released to the media from their lawyer, “The duo who recently filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States, against One Communications (Guyana) Inc. and Tennicia De Freitas, known by her stage name NEKEITA, have written to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., seeking an audience to discuss copyright reform and other issues affecting the music industry in Guyana.”
The letter which was dated September 28th, 2024 the duo noted that as creative professionals they face numerous challenges as a result of insufficient intellectual property protections, and this raises a deep concern for the lack of stringent mechanisms to “safeguard the rights of Guyanese artists and content creators.”
The lawsuit recently filed by the duo has created a buzz locally catching the attention of the Vice President and even the leader of the Alliance for Change.
Speaking about her pending lawsuit against One Communications and Nekeita, Jaxx has said “My hope is that this lawsuit will force corporate entities to show respect for song writers and content creators by implementing proper copyright clearance policies for all works used at their events”.
“Jaxx and D’Ivan contend in their letter to Minister Ramson, that rapid evolution of the global creative economy, creates an urgent need for Guyana to modernise its copyright laws and policies to ensure local artists are protected and empowered to meaningfully contribute to national development,” the release further stated.
The Vice President’s view on the modernization of the legislation is welcomed and the duo has informed Minister Ramson that they would like a meeting to “discuss how Vice President Jagdeo’s declared commitment to protect the rights of local artistes could be made a reality.”
On September 22nd this publication reported that Jaxx’ and D’Ivan have filed a US$1.6M lawsuit in a US District Court in the Eastern District of New York against recently rebranded One Communications for the unauthorized use of their musical compositions “Guyana” and “Oh Guyana”.
Musical compositions during a rebranding event, hosted by One Communications.
It is alleged in the lawsuit that One Communications and NEKEITA by performing, broadcasting and commercially exploiting the songs without obtaining the permission needed infringed on the copyright of the plaintiffs music.
Harry and Hanover are contending that the company, One Communications, in particular has gained significant benefits when it infringed on their copyright protection.
The lawsuit was reportedly filed after efforts made to have the dispute resolved with One Communications failed.
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