Bpam in a fight against piracy
The Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) says it is committed to protecting the interest of all involved in the book production chain.
Bpam president Alfred Msadala said this in light of the commemorations of the World Book and Copyright Day which falls on April 23.
The celebrations in Malawi will be held on Friday April 26 at Jalo Primary school in Nkhotakota under the theme Reading, Publishing and the Protection of Intellectual Property Through Copyright.
Msadala said the body is saddened by the continued pirating and photocopying of books without permission which he said is unfair to the authors.
“A book is a copyrighted item since it is an intellectual property. When it is issued, a user is free to use it upon procurement. But photocopying or pirating is a crime. Our industry is failing to develop because of this tendency and such acts should be abandoned and we will use this event to mobilise sensitisation campaigns on the evils of pirating books,” said Msadala.
Copyright Association of Malawi (Cosoma) assistant licensing officer, Tikhale Chikanda, said their body is working with Bpam to eliminate the book piracy practice.
Msadala said they will observe the day together with the National Library services, Cosoma, the National Commissions of Unesco, Malawi Writers Union, Visual Arts Association of Malawi, National Theatre Association of Malawi, Photographers Association of Malawi and Malawi Folk, Dance, Music.
Bpam is also running a reading circle programme where it supplies books to school libraries as part of encouraging the youth to develop a reading, performing and writing culture.
