The Uganda National Musicians Federation (UNMF) has taken its copyright awareness campaign to the Karamoja Sub-region, conducting a Copyright Management System (CMS) and Copyright Awareness training for musicians and other creative industry stakeholders in Moroto.
The engagement brought together musicians, composers, producers and other players in the creative sector to equip them with knowledge about copyright protection, royalty collection and distribution, and the importance of the Copyright Management System in safeguarding their intellectual property.
The initiative is part of UNMF’s ongoing efforts to empower Ugandan artists with the knowledge and tools necessary to protect their creative works and benefit from their intellectual property.
Addressing participants at the workshop, Eunice Iprotum Agoro Okirol, Head of the Eastern Region at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), explained the institution’s role in copyright registration and intellectual property protection.
Okirol said URSB is mandated to handle several areas, including business registration, insolvency matters, copyright registration and other intellectual property services. She noted that the training was particularly focused on copyright and neighboring rights.
She explained that copyright registration is provided for under the Uganda Registration Services Bureau Act, Cap. 22, with the Registrar of Copyrights responsible for processing applications and facilitating the protection of creative works under the law.
According to Okirol, the Registrar of Copyrights also handles matters relating to the licensing and assignment of copyrights, as well as the registration of agreements and contracts between copyright owners and parties seeking to use or transfer copyrighted works.
Meanwhile, John Kateregga, Director of Legal and Compliance at UNMF, urged creatives to adapt to technological changes and take copyright protection more seriously.
“We have not grown with technology. We have remained where we were many years ago, yet the times and seasons have changed. We must adapt to this new reality,” Kateregga said.
He described copyright as a critical issue for everyone in the creative industry, stressing that artists need to understand how copyright works in order to protect their creations and derive economic value from them.
Kateregga challenged participants to go beyond simply claiming ownership of their works and understand the legal rights that come with copyright protection.
He explained that copyright protection begins when an individual creates an original work, making it important for creators to understand how their rights can be protected, managed and commercially exploited.
The Karamoja training strengthened awareness among artists in the region while encouraging creatives to formally protect their works and participate in systems designed to support royalty collection and distribution.
Through such engagements, UNMF seeks to bridge the knowledge gap among Ugandan musicians and ensure that artists across the country are better equipped to protect their intellectual property and benefit from their creative output.
