The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A cultural economy advocate yesterday demanded a copyright law with more “teeth” as she urged Bahamians to stop stealing the creative works and intellectual property of others.

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, principal at Guanima Press, told the Bahamas Business Outlook conference that Bahamian policymakers must “ditch the empty promises and the shoot from the hip, costly and shame worthy” mentality and get down to “targeted policy and legislation” if this nation is to truly realise the full potential of the creative industries and so-called “orange economy”.

Calling for culture to have its own ministry, and be split out from sports and youth, she said: “A Department of Culture buried beneath the heft of education and sports just won’t do. Headed by a minister steeped in creativity, a Ministry of Culture is an imperative.

“The ministerial portfolio should encompass all sides of negotiations in an intersection with domestic and international markets; better response to prohibited local and foreign trade tariffs and other barriers to participation; as well as facilitation of better distribution avenues. A copyright law with teeth and the watchdog agency to enforce this are essential.”

Noting that Guanima Press has been in business for over 30 years, but is not wealthy, Ms Glinton-Meicholas says this is partially due to “the number of people who have stolen our works, copied and distributed them on their own basis”.

Underscoring the need for stronger copyright laws, she added that this “provides barriers to our interaction with foreign companies like Sony, for example. People don’t want to bring their services here because we steal people’s intellectual property and more.”

Ms Glinton-Meicholas continued: “What we definitely need is a functioning forum bringing together creators, government, NGOs, private support networks, distributors and buyers to collaborate and to consult in mutual respect for profit.

“We need bias and partisan-free funding incentives, opportunities for coaching, mentoring, creative hubs, providing facilities because you hear over and over again, some people - especially those in the Family Islands - are not party or have access to certain services.” Ms Glinton-Meicholas also called for ‘Hubs of Excellence’ to help steer creative talent to more productive avenues.

Meanwhile, Neko Meicholas, fellow principal at Guanima Press, said Bahamians need to better use digital and social media platforms to get a “slice” of the multi-billion dollar online creative industry. “We have a treasure trove of talent and I want to talk about potential ways in which Bahamian creatives can expand it to the international marketplace,” he added.

Pointing to the video sharing platform, YouTube, Mr Meicholas added: “Imagine the income earned by content creators… whose videos average 30m views sometimes reaching as high as 118m. Unfortunately, until the powers that be intervene, Bahamians cannot yet monetise their YouTube channels.

“But even without monetisation, local artists and creators can use a channel to drive followers to online stores where they sell merchandise, like books, printed t-shirts, clothing, stickers, art prints, digital downloads, also products thanks to the availability of the online payment service Paypal.”

YouTube is not the only social media platform that monetises its content, with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch doing similar, but neither of these can be monetised in The Bahamas either.

Leaving content creators to find more creative ways to sell their goods in the digital era, using these social media platforms can help drive customers to individual websites that accept payment for goods and also to Patreon. Mr Meicholas said: “Online stores like RedBubble Society… and any number of online storefronts that offer the wonderful print on demand services and a fantastic facility called Drop Shipping.

“As a result, artists and creators can take the designs, put them on products of their choosing, and those products can go from manufacturer to purchaser without ever making the expensive trips from the manufacture to The Bahamas and back again to the customer.”

In addition, many “print on demand” websites offer the option of connection to open digital storefronts such as Shopify or Etsy, where the latter’s revenue was over $2.4bn last year. Mr Meicholas “would love to see Bahamian creatives getting a slice of that pie”.