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Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 03, 2021 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is renewing its call for creatives, innovators and artists to capitalize on the protections offered by organizations established to secure their usage rights terms and guard their intellectual property.

The prompting was made on Friday (October 29) during a public consultation with persons in the creative industry. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Entertainment and Talent Development (MoENT). More than 120 individuals representing photography, film, music, dance, and event organizers attended.

Minister responsible for MoENT, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, noted that there are four focused areas that guide the ministry’s actions. These are film and photography, music and entertainment, performing arts, and technology and innovation. The minister indicated that the government has a close working relationship with the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. which is a society of writers and publishers of music. According to eccorights.org the organization represents and can license virtually the whole worldwide repertoire of copyright music for public performance, broadcast, cable transmission, online and mobile use.

Minister Byron-Nisbett touted the benefits of being registered with ECCO.

“It’s to make you better. It’s to also get you to that place so that when persons are having their events, our local artist will be able to collect the royalties they deserve as well,” she stated. “And so … once we begin to roll out our different programmes and training opportunities, you will be able to learn a little bit more about ECCO so [that] you can understand that ECCO is also for your benefit especially as an artist.”

Another agency that MoENT works closely with is the local Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The minister said that the discussion with officials at IPO was an eye-opener.

“When we sat down and we spoke to them and we heard about all the opportunities available just by copyright, intellectual property, the type of monies and revenues that you can gain from publishing a book to a theatre arts production,” Honourable Byron-Nisbett stated.

The minister said that persons must be willing to capitalize on these protections and revenue earning strategies as they are a critical aspect in professionalizing the entertainment industry in St. Kitts and Nevis.