TANRRS licensed to collect literary rights remuneration
DAR ES SALAAM: THE Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) has officially licensed the Tanzania Reproduction Rights Society (TANRRS) to collect remuneration for the reproduction of copyrighted literary works.
The licence was handed over by COSOTA Acting Chief Executive Officer and Copyright Administrator, Mr Filemon Kilaka, to TANRRS Chairman, Mr Hermes Damian, who was accompanied by the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Abdullah Saiwaad.
The brief ceremony took place recently at COSOTA offices near the Utumishi Building in Dar es Salaam.
According to Mr Kilaka, COSOTA had invited applications from eligible organisations to operate as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) in various bundles of rights. TANRRS successfully met the requirements and was consequently awarded the licence.
“Collection of remuneration is only half the story. To complete the story, TANRRS must distribute the collected funds to the rightful owners. And I stress– must,” Mr Kilaka said during the handover.
Mr Damian, while receiving the licence, expressed appreciation for the support extended by COSOTA and reiterated the organisation’s commitment to upholding creators’ rights.
“We have been closely following developments in the Copyright Act since 2021, when the Ministry responsible for Culture appointed a team to review the law regarding collective management. To obtain this licence, we worked very hard. We know that enforcing compliance will not be easy, but we believe we can succeed,” he said.
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On his part, Mr Saiwaad stressed the need for continuous collaboration with COSOTA.
“Even the law emphasises the role of the Copyright Office in creating a copyright-abiding community. COSOTA has the data and the authority to ensure this support,” he noted.
Copyright protects authors of original literary and artistic works simply by virtue of their creation. These works include novels, essays, plays, dictionaries, textbooks, poetry, paintings, drawings, photographs and other forms of artistic expression. However, ideas themselves are not protected unless expressed in tangible form.
In Tanzania, copyright protection is governed by the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act of 1999 (CAP 318) and its amendments. The Act grants authors exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, rent and otherwise exploit their works. Licensing publishers or other entities automatically transfers some of these rights to them.
The rapid growth of technology has made it easier to reproduce copyrighted works, often without the permission of rights holders. COSOTA reminded the public that photocopying parts of copyrighted works without authorisation constitutes an infringement of the law.
TANRRS, a company limited by guarantee and registered by the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) under Registration No. 166844231, was established by stakeholders to represent authors and publishers in negotiating, licensing and collecting remuneration for the reproduction of literary works.
The collected funds will be distributed to rights holders, ensuring that creators benefit from the use of their works.
Internationally, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), in collaboration with the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC) and the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), has developed fair systems for managing such rights and ensuring equitable agreements between rights holders and users.
TANRRS will now function as a recognised Collective Management Organisation in Tanzania’s literary sector under Sections 46 and 52 of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act of 1999 and its amendments.
