BPN Newsletter Issue No 13, April 1995
Copyright and Development: Inequality in the Information Age, edited by Philip G. Altbach
ISBN 0-937033-58-8, 109 pp 1995, $15 (paper). (Bellagio Studies in Publishing 4). Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Bellagio Publishing Network Research and Information Center, 1995, 109 pp.,
Hans M Zell is a publishing consultant specialising in scholarly and reference book publishing, and journals publishing management; Glais Bheinn, Lochcarron, Ross-shire, IV54 8YB, Scotland. +44 1520 722951 (tel), +44 1520 722953 (fax), email: hzell@dial.pipex.com
This is the fourth title in the valuable "Bellagio Studies on Publishing" series, put out by the Research and Information Center of the Bellagio Publishing Network, an informal association of organizations and donors dedicated to the strengthening of indigenous publishing in the Third World. The present title aims to fill an important void in the current debate about copyright. At the same time, the contributions in the book bring some balance to the debate by providing a number of perspectives from countries in the developing world.
The book contains six contributions: an introductory essay by Philip Altbach, "The Subtle Inequalities of Copyright"; papers by Henry Chakava, "International Copyright and Africa: An Unequal Exchange"; Dina Nath Malhotra, "Copyright: A Perspective from the Developing World"; Urvashi Butalia, "The Issues at Stake: An Indian perspective on Copyright"; Janice Wickeri, "Copyright in the Chinese Context"; and a contribution by Lynette Owen (Rights and Contracts Director at Longman), "Copyright - Benefit or Obstacle?" which is a perspective on copyright by a U.K. publisher who has worked for more than 25 years in multinational, educational, and academic publishing houses.
Owen agrees that educational and academic publishers in the more affluent countries should try to respond to the needs for low-cost book supply in developing countries, but she stresses that, in any licensing agreements, the original publisher is entitled to a fair return for the use of publications in which they and their authors have invested expertise, years of editorial work, and substantial finance. She also acknowledges that licensing terms should be tailored to take into account circumstances in the country of the licensee, but that "a demand for rights to be passed free of charge or for a minimal royalty percentage which may also be based on a minimal local price fail to recognize the intrinsic worth of the title." She goes on to say that "it is often forgotten that it is not the designated role of commercial publishers in the more affluent countries to provide aid to less fortunate countries"; that, she states, should be role of governments, through initiatives such as translation subsidy schemes of low-cost book programs such as the ELBS.
In contrast, Henry Chakava's hard-hitting paper, or expos, about the African situation might be aptly described as an attempt to decolonize the minds of the rights holders in the North. The paper is written with a great deal of passion, and much of what he says is presumably based on his own practical experience in his long and distinguished career in publishing since he became publishing manager of Heinemann Educational Books (East Africa) Ltd. in 1974, which later became Heinemann Kenya, and is now East African Educational Publishers, a fully Kenyan-owned company of which he is managing director.
In his paper, Henry Chakava argues that many aspects of international copyright reciprocity are illusory, and that whether or not African countries have become signatories to some of the copyright conventions has been quite meaningless, and has not significantly benefited any country. He contends that the main beneficiaries are still the publishers in the North, who continue to be reluctant to grant reprint licenses to African publishers, and that publishers in the North "are using copyright as a weapon to maintain the dependency relations that currently exist."
In setting the scene for his arguments and his call for measures to correct the present inequalities in international copyright conventions, Henry Chakava precedes it by a number of statements that, to this reviewer at least, appear unnecessarily negative. It is true that the African book industries are still beset by many problems and obstacles, that publishing output is still relatively insignificant, and that the majority of indigenous publishers are still unable to compete with the multinationals on real terms. However, some progress has been achieved over the past two decades, and a substantial number of remarkable and outstanding books continue to come from African presses despite their operating in the midst of adversity. To repeatedly state, as he does, that Africa has little to offer is a rather staggering assertion that seems to ignore the work of many distinguished African writers, scholars, and artists. Moreover, to state that African publishers (1) "have little or nothing to sell," (2) "Children's books are few and not produced to a quality level that can attract foreign interest", or (3) "Academic books are few and mostly published out of the continent" completely fails to recognize, for example, the remarkable, albeit still relatively modest, success the Oxford-based African Books Collective (of which Henry Chakava is a founder member publisher) has achieved in selling a very wide range of African-published material, including many academic and children's books. Since it started trading in May 1990 ABC has generated overseas turnover for African books in excess of U.S.$1 million - still modest perhaps, but hardly "little or nothing to sell!"
In the second part of his paper, Henry Chakava makes the charge that publishers in the North "continue to flout with impunity the same conventions that are protecting their interests in the South," though it would perhaps have been helpful if such claims had been backed up by one or two specific examples of any such infringements. He calls for the humanizing of international copyright, that the granting of licenses "should incorporate the human factor," and that "all publishers should be prevented from outrightly refusing to grant reprint licenses on flimsy grounds or without giving reasons." The latter may be difficult to implement in practice, and some publishers may find such reasoning rather unconvincing. They might well state that any publisher, anywhere, is perfectly entitled to refuse reprint licenses if it feels they are not in its interest, or in the interest of its authors; or if the authors themselves don't feel it is in their interest. Others might argue that special concessions have in any event already been made through the provision of compulsory licensing under the terms of the Paris Revisions. However, Henry Chakava points out, and I think few would disagree with him here, that the rules governing compulsory acquisition remain vague and are misunderstood by many, "while the majority of African publishers are ignorant of them."
Henry Chakava's paper in this collection is an important and timely contribution to the debate about copyright, its inequalities, and current practice in international rights trading. I suspect a good number of his publishing colleagues in the North are likely to disagree with some of his argumentation - or certainly the practicalities of implementing some of his suggested measures for change - but this is an eloquent and impassioned plea for equity, honesty, reciprocity, understanding, and fair play to correct the present imbalance in copyright conventions (both in their letter and in practice), and thus help to strengthen the indigenous African book industries in the years ahead.
As Philip Altbach states in his introductory essay, "there must be a recognition that all knowledge products are not the same, and that while it may be justified to insist on commercial terms of Nintendo games, some flexibility for scientific materials, textbooks and the like is appropriate. The owners of knowledge must modify their purely profit-oriented approach to certain segments of the knowledge industry." And the time has come for some rethinking of the relationship between the knowledge "haves" and "have nots." [end] [BPN, no 13, 1995, p 13.]
(This review is reprinted from the African Book Publishing Record, with the permission of the editor and publisher.)
Ordering Info
Copies of titles can be ordered from the distributor:
African Books Collective Ltd.
PO Box 721
Oxford OX1 9EN UK
Tel/Fax: +44-(0)1869-349110
Email: orders@africanbookscollective.com
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