Cultural Policy and Intellectual Property Rights Workshop
The Cultural Policy and Intellectual Property Rights workshop focused on addressing the needs of the Caribbean artistic community with the central aim of placing cultural civil society organisations and practitioners at the nucleus of cultural policy throughout the region. It created a space for cultural civil society organisations and matters concerning their artistic development to be discussed. The Intellectual Property Rights component of the workshop was geared towards a frank and open discussion on: what these rights are, identifying these rights in artistic works, how to protect cultural works, and how to financially gain from these rights?
The Cultural Policy and Intellectual Property Rights Workshop was a regional workshop for CARICOM countries. It created a space for cultural civil society organisations and matters concerning their artistic development to be discussed at a regional level. The workshop addressed issues in formulating, implementing and evaluating cultural policies in the Caribbean. The workshop was timely as Jamaica is currently reviewing its cultural policy, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in the process of implementing theirs and Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Barbados would soon commence the revision of their respective cultural policies.
Likewise, the renewed emphasis on the cultural industries by CARICOM states necessitates the need for the formulation of strong cultural policies which accurately reflect and address the sector’s needs, and which can guide the growth and development of the cultural industries. As it relates to the Intellectual Property Rights component of the workshop practical examples of success stories as well as stories of missed opportunities, business losses and best practices would also be presented from industry leaders across the region.
It is expected that this workshop would serve as a platform for further engagment and dialogue among Caribbean Directors of Culture and cultural civil society orgranisations. It was anticipated that the workshop would allow for the sharing of best practices, pitfalls and opportunities for partnerships and collaboration among regional colleagues and partners, particularly in the areas of engaging meaningfully with civil society organisations and capturing cultural data within the Caribbean.
The workshop was sponsored by tthe Caribbean Development Bank. The total cost of the workshop was US$ 13, 500.