Protection of Copyright today, protection of Cultural Heritage tomorrow

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Kujtim Shala, took part in the conference "Intellectual Property Rights" which was organized on World Intellectual Property Day, by the Industrial Property Agency, MTI; Office of Copyright and Related Rights - MCYS; Intellectual Property Sector - Kosovo Customs, Market Inspectorate of MTI; Kosovo Police.

World Intellectual Property Day is marked worldwide on 26 April and is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of intellectual property rights, and their role in supporting creativity and innovation.

Minister Shala in his speech at the opening of the conference said: "Creativity and Innovation are two very important components of culture, respectively the economy, especially now that the cultural and economic development is advanced and global and digital economy have surpassed state borders, where knowledge and inventions surround and follow us at every moment of our life."

Further, Minister Shala said that "intellectual property is of great importance for the development and advancement of culture, science and technology, for the fact that copyright and other intellectual property rights are means of cultural, scientific and economic development "and added that:" Kosovo institutions through the promotion and support of intellectual creativity and innovation, want to promote the economic development of our country."

"With the work done by the MCYS in the field of copyright and by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the field of Industrial Property Rights, Kosovo has created a consolidated system of intellectual property based on international conventions and European directives of the field " continued Shala, and pointed out that Kosovo is now fully prepared to accede to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Also, in his speech, Minister Shala stressed the need to protect creativity and copyright of creators and inventors, because in this way we protect and promote cultural creativity, innovation, creative industries and the economy in general, adding that "the protection of copyright today, means protection of our culture, and it is a protection of cultural heritage tomorrow. Therefore, we are determined to work hard to reduce the level of piracy and to create conditions where originality and creativity are respected and protected. "

In order to raise awareness about the role and importance of intellectual property, MCYS has built a legal infrastructure for copyright and related rights, has adopted the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, which is now in the Parliament in the process of amendment in order to be fully harmonized with EU directives. Also, sub-legal acts for the regulation of collective management and regulation of the mediation process are approved, and two associations for collective management of copyright are licensed. Also, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo has sanctioned violation of copyright. Finally, the Government has approved the Concept Paper to regulate the right for special compensation.

Minister Kujtim Shala, at the end of his speech at the conference, encouraged the main Intellectual Property institutions to keep up the good work in this field.