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Love to share, a booklet on intellectual property rights and copyright
By Teresia Mutuku, Communications Officer and Web Manager, WACC
The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) together with World Council of Churches (WCC) have jointly published a booklet offering guidelines on intellectual property rights and copyrights.
The booklet titled Love to share deals with the rights of creative artists, including authors, musicians and communities, and the wish of faith-based groups to share the cultural and spiritual riches produced by their creativity.
In his foreword, Rev. Samuel Kobia, WCC’s General Secretary observes that the ecumenical community and worldwide networks of communicators face common issues, rules and questions regarding intellectual property rights. He hopes the booklet will “help find a balance between ethics and economics, private and public, spiritual and material”.
In his forward, WACC’s General Secretary, Randy Naylor, says that intellectual property rights , knowledge-sharing and pluralism are communication rights issues. “WACC is delighted to participate in the publication of this booklet because it believes that accessing and sharing information and knowledge resources lies at the heart of equitable intellectual property rights, respect for the moral rights and integrity of created works of genuine plurality”. He strongly recommends Love to Share for reflection and action by communicators everywhere.
The aim of the publication is to raise awareness among churches and wider audiences about intellectual property as it relates to liturgical and Christian resources and their use; to invite people to reflect, discuss and act effectively on intellectual property issues and use of liturgical resources; and to promote a culture of sharing that protects the individual creators/authors and encourages Christian communities and their publishing houses worldwide to act in a fair and just way.
Dennis Smith, former president of WACC-Latin America and a member of the booklet’s writing team, says that the booklet “encourages creativity and the free flow of ideas and respecting the rights and prerogatives of authorship without becoming mired in the mercenary spirit that has sometimes come to be associated with the publishing and music industries.”
The booklet was released at the meeting of the WCC Central Committee held 13-20 February 2008 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It will be available on WACC and WCC websites soon.