The Association of Caribbean Copyright Societies (ACCS) held its 12th Annual General Meeting here in St.Lucia. The meeting which was attended by representatives from the ACCS’ founding collective management organizations as well as a representative from the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) and stakeholders from within Saint Lucia highlighted the achievements of the ACCS over the past year.
This included growth in licenses and royalty distributions for all, including, COS-CAP from Barbados, ECCO from the OECS sub-region and JACAP from Jamaica; while the ACCS itself reported that it had strengthened its relations with key regional and international development partners; secured much needed project funding for a number of key training and developmental initiatives under its work program, and adopted a sustainability plan among other achievements.
The keynote address for the meeting was delivered by Ms Juliana Alfred, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Local Government, Culture and Creative Industries in Saint Lucia. PS Alfred noted that given the increasing importance of services to the small economies in the region, including the creative industries services sectors, that there was an important role for the collective management societies to play in ensuring a balanced environment for copyright and related rights.
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