Copyright: How to Register Your Works in Uganda, Including Music and Photos. A legal term known as “copyright” designates the rights granted to authors and artists of literary and creative works in order to facilitate their identification, acknowledgment, and protection against unauthorized use and resale. Anyone wishing to use your work must first obtain your permission if you have a copyright.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), a statutory body that also registers patents to protect original inventions, is responsible for granting exclusive rights to original authors or creators in accordance with the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations, 2010 in Uganda.
According to Uganda’s copyright laws, “works” include visual arts like architecture and sculpture, performing arts like music, screenplays, lyrics, and recordings, motion pictures like films and movies, photographs, and other digital content like computer programs and expressive works in books, blogs, and newspapers. How does one go about registering a copyright?
How to get a copyright in Uganda
Obtaining copyright protection for your work is a smart move if you want to make money off of derivatives that are used or reposted by others.
As previously mentioned, URSB handles copyright registration in UG. To apply, take these actions:
1. Download Form 1 – APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT OR NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
2. In the first three sections of the application form, give the title, description, and name of the creator of the work you want to copyright
3. In part four, provide your contact information; email, postal address, and phone number
4. State the crucial dates in the creation of the work, that is, the date of creation and publication
5. Complete the form with other relevant information and put your sign at the signature line together with the date of application
6. When the form is duly filled, pay the Ush50,000 copyright application fee to URSB and get the receipt
7. Combine the filled Form 1, the receipt of payment, and copies or records representing the work for which is to be registered for copyright for purposes of verification and send it to;
The Registrar of Copyright,
Uganda Registration Services Bureau,
PO Box 6848,
Kampala.
A notice of application will be published in the Uganda Gazette for public disclosure upon receipt of your application by the URSB Copyright Registrar, who will then review it and determine if all criteria have been completed. This will allow anybody who has objections to the submitted work to make a complaint.
The Copyright Registrar will name you as the legitimate owner of the work in the URSB database and provide you a certificate of registration as proof of registration if, sixty days after the date of publication in the Gazette, there is no objection to your copyright application.
