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{
"id": 768819,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/768819/?format=api",
"text_counter": 85,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. S.S. Ahmed",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Kisumu East",
"speaker": {
"id": 140,
"legal_name": "Ahmed Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed",
"slug": "shakeel-shabbir"
},
"content": "Apart from that, I would like to contribute to the Copyright (Amendment) Bill. All over the developing economies in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, there was no copyright restriction. Even if there were, Japan; when it was developing, China; when it developed, India and many others kept quiet and did not give too much credence to the copyright law. They wanted to bring their economies to per. I know that in India, books that are copyrighted, even medical books et cetera, cost less than Kshs1000 yet the market in Kenya and other places, they cost even Kshs50,000. It is basically because they are photocopied. Yes, I do understand that the authors need to be protected, but there are times you have to look at the greater good. We are now talking about copyright but we are finding a lot of medicine that is not genuine, they call it “generic”. There is no copyright. The other day I read that there was a drug that was being supplied in the United States of America. When the copyright was taken, the price of the drug went up nearly 50 times. So, as much as I agree that Kenya is a developing economy and on the threshold of take off, we must also appreciate, pay respect to and also keep the copyright requirements in mind. There are times this will not be for the benefit of the country as a whole. As much as we are here, my colleagues and I should remember we were all in a campaign just recently. We were all being approached by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya and they would tell us: “You must pay Kshs200,000 to play the music; Kshs50,000 to play this and Kshs50,000 to play that.” I agree that this is something that must be done. I am not for one moment saying we should break the law, I am saying there should be some leeway. This Bill is very good. It is good for a developing economy. It is good for a developed economy, but, some of the requirements and the penalties that have been put here are excessive. Furthermore, we passed another Bill not long ago. It was the Anti-Counterfeit Bill. What happened? Counterfeits are still going on because we do not give teeth to monitor and take action on all these laws we pass. As much as I believe this Bill is well thought out, it is actually quite detailed in the requirements. It is, in fact, too much to bear in this economy. I hope, when it comes to the Third Reading, I shall be proposing certain changes – certain requirements should be dropped and others be covered. With those few remarks, I thank you. I support the Bill but, in part."
}