Copyright Board warns Cadbury over property rights
The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) has placed Cadbury on the spot for not crediting authors participating in their current competition titled “In my own Words”.
KECOBO executive director Edward Sigei explains that the terms and conditions of this campaign are unethical as they degrade writers by taking away their intellectual property rights.
In addition to this Mr. Sigei has challenged the international confectionery firm to review the terms of the competition or withdraw it entirely.
“It has come to our attention that Cadbury is running a campaign dubbed “In Our Own Word” that intends to use original stories collected through the campaign on its website’s digital library and across various platforms associated with the initiative. The economic and moral rights to the stories created shall be forfeited to Cadbury without acknowledgment or pay to the participants,” said Mr. Sigei.
“KECOBO has reviewed the terms of the campaign and found them unethical and amounts to subjecting writers to degrading treatment while taking away their intellectual property rights. As such KECOBO has written to Cadbury to review the terms of the competition or withdraw it entirely. The public is advised to avoid the campaign until the author’s rights are well recognized and paid for,” he added.
The competition seeks to compile 150 original short stories for a children’s storybook aimed at encouraging the reading culture in young people.
“We draw inspiration from our environment, from the songs we sing, our culture, and more. A love of reading is sparked when our little ones see themselves in stories. Find what inspires you and write your original 200 – word Kenyan story and submit it on http://cadbury.africa/ourownwords,” tweeted @Cadbury_KE.
One of the clauses in the terms and conditions for writers interested in the competition states that. “Participants will not be compensated for their original stories, by submitting the stories the participant is donating their story and therefore will not be story author upon publishing.”
Be warned! Don't take part in the Cadbury Competition dubbed 'ln our own Words' until authors' rights are well recognised and paid for. @KenyaCopyright has written to the Cadbury to review the terms of the competition or withdraw it entirely. pic.twitter.com/0LuuHjyBoV
— Kenya Copyright Board (@KenyaCopyright) August 23, 2021
??? this is beyond disgusting – you don’t even credit the AUTHOR of the story?HOW is this moral? Not only do you (a wealthy global company) want to rob the stories but now you even rob their name? The story BELONGS to the #storyteller – SAY THEIR NAME ??? #CadburyDairyMilk pic.twitter.com/SgoTGT004c
— plzLOOK (@plzlook) August 21, 2021