A Critique On Ethiopian Copyright Regime In Light Of The Agreement On Trade-Related Aspects Of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips

Abstract

Nowadays, the world we live in is growing at an unexpected pace with scientific discoveries and inventions every day. The countries and institutions that control the world economy and are getting rich faster are the leaders in science, technology and innovation. On the other hand, it is worrying that those who are going in the traditional way, who are more advanced in their scientific economic growth rates become weaker and declining. In general countries that are awake to civilization, innovation, scientific and technological discoveries are taking the lead in all directions to drive the world towards their desired direction as their economic, social and political development is unfolding. Copyright protection in an international standard enhances the level of technological advancement which has a tendency of introducing indigenous cultural expressions to the community around the globe. Though Ethiopia has applied for membership in 2003 it is not still yet accepted to membership of the organization. Up on success in accession, Ethiopia is required to ratify the agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights that demands the country to fulfil minimum standard of intellectual Property (IP) protection including the copyrights. So, due to the imminence of WTO membership, closely reviewing our copyright law in light with the TRIPS agreement is necessary for disclosing areas of disparity so as to reform the domestic copyright law in a commensurable way. Thus, the main argument of this thesis is that as a precondition for WTO accession the Copyright law of Ethiopia which fails to extend protection to certain copyrightable works such as to compilation of data; unclear to the extent of originality to grant protection; magnitude of contribution in works of joint authors; scope of authority granted to courts and administrative bodies on civil cases relating to copyright infringement and related legal gaps. This affects economic benefit of right holders of copyrightable works and neglects moral rights of the authors. It suggests that reforming or amending the Ethiopian copyright law, the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Proclamation No. 410/2004 and the Amendment Proclamation No. 872/2014, to include copyright protection on areas of the above mentioned gaps. This ascertains clear guarantee of protection for works of copyright holders and will enhance economic value of copyright by making Ethiopia a participant in international free trades up on WTO accession.