Rwanda Development Board holds awareness raising workshop in Kigali

On 24 July, in Kigali, Rwanda, CISAC and local authors’ society, the Rwanda Society of Authors (RSAU), took part in an ‘awareness raising’ workshop on ‘Copyright & Collective Management Organisation.’ The event was organised by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and was held in advance of CISAC’s annual African Committee (CAF) meeting - a three-day event which commenced on 25 July. The forum brought together more than 100 guests, which include; creators, government officials and CEO’s from Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) from within the Africa Region.

The Rwandan government was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sport and Culture, Patrice Rugambwa. In opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary recognised the key role played by collective management organisations (CMOs) in protecting creators. He added: ‘‘The government is committed in its support for RSAU. There is a need to educate creators about their rights and support its enforcement. Awareness will be key, not only towards the creators, but also the public at large. ’’

Key topics explored during the session included a presentation on copyright systems and collective management of copyright in Rwanda, an overview of the ‘legal and institutional environment’ for creators, governance, as well as licensing and distribution. An introduction to CISAC was also provided by CISAC Director General Gadi Oron.

CISAC has 36 member societies in 31 different countries in Africa. Royalty collections for the African region reached €61.3M for 2015, an increase of 14.9% from 2014, according to data from CISAC’s 2016 Global Collections Report.