It’s all they have
God, our creator endowed unique gifts in each one of us. If every one of us were to take an earnest self-discovery, we would find certain qualities that are lacking in the next person.
Even the personalities we look at with damning contempt have it in them which we can all benefit from if well harnessed. Such is the beauty of creation. Everyone has a role to play and a difference to make.
It, therefore, follows that when one invests energy, to wear one’s brain out to create something, it is only proper that one gets credit for such an effort. The narration here applies to the value that our creative players bring to the world and the joy they bring to our lives as a result. Think of a world with the feeling of a beautiful serenade that comes from the rhythm of that beautiful song.
Imagine this space without bars of that poem that brings out nothing but awe in its full sense. Remember how indebted you feel to the writer when you spend your idle hours buried in the enriching and exciting paragraphs of that inspiring novel.
Such is the contribution that musicians, poets, dramatists, fiction writers, storytellers and others make to our otherwise boring lives. We should be glad they are here to lighten up our blurred dull moments and create perspectives we never imagined.
It becomes sad when this group is denied full benefits of their toil. Even the little that they are able to make in a small economy like ours get ripped by unscrupulous minds who all they have done is master the art of making a quick buck where they did not sow.
Imagine a situation where a group of creatives have mobilised themselves to mount a raid on spots where people are reproducing and selling their work without any due concern and eventually they are chased away by the very people who are skinning them?
You would wish if this were not true, but it is what usually happens. The task of enforcing copyright laws has been very frustrating for everyone in the industry such that at times it has appeared like it is not worth the effort to try at all.
Probably over 75 percent of the local creative content being consumed is courtesy of uncertified means. This has meant our local artists continue to toil, but with no real progress to show for both on a personal level and as an industry.
The set controls are apparently not enough. People continue to pilfer through with reckless ease as the space shrinks even further as it can no longer support the dreams of many who are endowed with so much potential.
It was, therefore, refreshing to learn during the week that the body charged with protection of safeguarding the creatives, the Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma), had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Malawi Police Service (MPS) to help in enforcing copyright laws in Malawi.
For starters, the system has been very weak. That we all know. Instead of the creatives benefiting from their integral property instead it has been the culprits who have been thriving. If you go around the townships and see how many spots are reproducing and sharing music without supporting licences you will get the whole idea.
According to the MoU, Cosoma will have police officers, two each at their Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu offices. What is expected is nothing but a change from the status quo. The current setup is not healthy for anyone involved.
Some wake up every day and try to figure out something to share with the world and earn something from it. They don’t have any source of income apart from that gift. That talent is all that they have, let us spare a thought for them. n
