Another important factor to take into account is that the original work must have been
reduced into some material form or tangible medium of expression. Once these factors
have been established then under section 7 (1) of the copyright the author of the
artistic works shall have the exclusive right to control the doing in Uganda or any other
country of
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the distribution of the copies
-
the public performance for payment
-
the broadcasting
of the whole or a substantial part of the work either in its original form or in a form
recognizably derived from the original.
For an artist this important to ensure that
his/her work is not reproduced, distorted, mutilated and or distributed in a manner that
is prejudicial to his honour and or reputation.
I am satisfied that the Plaintiff is the author of certain artistic works for which she has
copyright protection over. This is because the art pieces she produced to Court as evidence
of her artistic works meet the legal criteria outlined above for copyright protection. The
plaintiff has satisfactorily proved that she had dispensed an amount of effort to produce the
work and even adduced evidence to show how she developed her work produced out of her
sketch book and the books she read. Be as it may the plaintiff cannot claim copyright with
regard to the ideas she has nor the colours of gold and black and the use of stick people as
figures in her work as she claimed in her testimony. Any copyright protection to her would
extend to the expression of her ideas that are original in nature. In the event, I am satisfied
that the plaintiff’s works are original and sufficient effort has been expended on making it.
Issue 2:
Whether the defendants infringed the plaintiffs copy right.
Counsel for the plaintiff in his submissions referred court to section 13 (1) of the Copyright
Act which provides that:
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