Members of Copyright Tribunal take oath of office
Chief Justice Martha Koome presided over the swearing-in of the Chairperson of the Copyright Tribunal, Ms. Elizabeth Lenjo and Members: Ms Helen Kiende, Mr Wilfred Ogot, Ms Caroline Opiyo and Mr Joseph Ndungu at the Supreme Court, Nairobi.
The CJ said success of the Copyright Tribunal has an impact on fostering creativity and a bearing on the success of our arts and cultural industry.
She added that this is because these ‘post-industrial’ aspects of our economy rely upon copyright law to establish property rights and protect revenues.
“Therefore, you must robustly enforce copyright law for our creatives and other authors of different forms of work to earn a living and benefit from their works and innovation,” the CJ said.
She urged them to align the operations of the Copyright Tribunal with the ethos of ‘Social Transformation through Access to Justice’ Vision.
“By doing this, you play a role in ensuring that our talented and creative artists and authors can make a career, earn a living, and flourish from their work by protecting their intellectual property rights,” the CJ explained.
The Copyright Tribunal is one of the institutions that are intended to further the objectives of Article 40(5) of the Constitution which instructs the State to support, promote and protect the intellectual property rights of the people of Kenya.