SEACONET launched

Seventeen African ministers of arts and culture have officially launched the newly formed Southern and Eastern Africa Copyright Network (Seaconet) in a bid to strengthen regional collaboration and cooperation in the field of creative industries, copyright and related rights. The group includes Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It will act as a regional organisation where issues relating to the promotion and protection of creative industries, copyright and related rights can be discussed. The announcement came at a 30 May ministerial meeting held in Lilongwe, Malawi. During the meeting the secretariat and the executive council of Seaconet were elected. It consists of Yustus Mkinga from Copyright Society of Tanzania as president, Serman Chavula from Copyright Society of Malawi as secretariat. The executive council members include Peter Wasamba from the Reproduction Rights Society of Kenya , John Max from the Namibia Society of Composers and Authors of Music, Joel Baloyi from the Southern African Music Rights Organisation, and Kenneth Musamva from Zambia as copyright registrar officer. Source : Intellectual Property Watch.

Afro IP would welcome comment on how SEACONET will interface with the ACA2K Network.