Importance of copyright low in tanzania?

Copyright laws in any country, including Tanzania have been put in place to protect creators of particular pieces of work from having them stolen and used by other people for their own ends. It also means that the person who is the originator of the work will be paid what is due to them because their work has to be bought and not simply copied.

Copyright laws in Tanzania also ensure that the creator of a piece of work gets the recognition for it.

• Things that are covered by copyright law in Tanzania

There are a number of different things that are covered and protected by copyright law in Tanzania and they include original literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works. It also includes sound recordings, broadcasts, films, cable programs and the typographical arrangement of published items.

It is possible to have more than one copyright in one piece of work, for example in a song.

• Separate copyrights

A song can be divided into three and therefore have three different copyrights applied to it. This is because the music itself will need to be copyrighted and is considered to be a musical work; the lyrics are considered to be a literary work and so will need their own copyright; and finally there will be a copyright in place for the sound recording.

• Neighboring rights

In Tanzania, there are secondary rights of copyrights that are referred to as neighboring rights. These are the rights that the performers are entitled to, and under Tanzanian law performers are classified as singers, dancers, musicians and producers of sound recordings whatever the format, so this can include everything from CDs to radio and television performances.