Authors cry out over book piracy

Local book authors have pointed out that piracy is threatening their  industry and some writers have opted to stop publishing their works.

Officiating at the copy rights workshop aimed at creating awareness on the copyright law and empowering stake holders, Dr. James Tumusiime, the managing director of Fountain Publishers singled out people at Nasser Road who publish books even before the writers release their manuscripts.

Nasser Road is the hub of printing in Kampala.

Uganda passed the copy right law in 2006 to protect the creative industry but the law is yet to bite hard.

Tumusiime said many authors have abandoned the profession out of frustration.

“Inside of seeing people from Nasser Road earn from the sleepless nights of writers, it is better to leave the job and focus on other things," Tumusiime said.

 Citing Nigeria,Tumusiime noted that if protected, content can be among the leading contributors to the government Gross Domestic Product.

 “Many country are earning lots of money from exporting content and here in Uganda, most people don’t even care to get patent rights for their works," he said.

Yorokamu Bamwine, the Principal Judge, attributed the vice to lack sensitisation among authors.

“Many of the authors do not know their rights and those who know don’t know where to go to for help in case a person violates the copy right law," Bamwine said.

Bamwine said there is need for a new path to handle cases of piracy.

“It's surprising that even us the judges have little information on that law. It is better advocate for tribunals for cases like these to hasten the hearing of cases," he said.

 The intellectual property law protects materials like literacy works, music, drama, architectural works, sounds and recordings and others.