Introduction

National Law College Commercial and Intellectual Property Research Center (NaLCCIPRC) was established on December 2018. The research center encourages promotion of Commercial and Intellectual Property Research work in South Asia. It is located in Nepal which helps in developing research opportunities and knowledge sharing of Commercial and Intellectual Property policies within international platform. The research center provides foundation for knowledge that makes possible the innovations and advancements in wider society, thereby creating social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts.

Vision

CIPRC will provide state of the art research facilities with intention to promote knowledge sharing environment in Nepal and Internationally.

Mission

• To promote Commercial and Intellectual Property Rights In Nepal.
• To provide proper environment to conduct research.
• Enhances researcher’s abilities to obtain and manage grants.
• Develops strong relationships with sponsors.
• Enhances the ability to perform research in a global community.
• Supports strong infrastructure for interdisciplinary research

 

Activities:

 

• Training center

We provide training for students, entrepreneurs and government officials by our expert team which is based on their demand and need.

• Conferences

We organize annual conferences for scholars which is based on the commercial law and Intellectual Property law.

• Seminars

We organize monthly seminars for scholars which is based on the commercial law and Intellectual Property law in Asia.

• Incubation center

We have an incubation center for budding entrepreneurs where we will train entrepreneurs about brand protection, trademarks, designs and Brand protection management.

 

Programs:

One of the major program held by this center is One Day Interactive Session on Situation of Implementation of Copyright Act in Nepal and Role of Organizations related to Royalty Collection.

About the session:

The session started with the introduction of the centre by the Deputy Director of Center Ms Samrakchhina Ghimire.  The session continued with the presentation from keynote speakers focusing on the Copyright Act, its provisions and implementation followed by floor discussion.

Speakers:

1. Dr Ram Krishna Timalsina (Ex registrar of Supreme Court of Nepal and executive director of National Law College)
2. Prakash Acharya (Registrar of Nepal Copyright Registration Office)

Guests:

• Yadav Kharel (Lyricist)
• Shankar Koirala(Lyricist)
• Chudamani Devkota (President of Association of Song Writer)
• Subash Regmi (President of Music Royalty Collection Society)
• Lakshman Shrestha(musician and President of Association of Musicians)
• SP Koirala (Lyricist)
• Milan Moktan (President of Nepal Culture Association)

The program was divided into three sessions. In the first session, keynote speakers gave presentations on the topic. The first session was followed by the interactive session where the audience asked questions to the speakers. In the final session, the guests shared the information on the related topic.

First session:

First keynote speaker: Dr Ram Krishna Timalsina, Executive Director, National Law College

Time duration: 12:50 pm-1:14pm

Dr Ram Krishna Timalsina dealt with the basic concept of Copyright and the related law of Nepal. He summarized the Copyright Act of Nepal 2059 B.S. He explained the concept of moral right, economic right and described the Fair Use Principle as described in the Berne Convention. He shared the present status of Copyright in Nepal. He highlighted the associated national legal provisions on Copyright in Nepal. Dr Timalsena appealed that national level research should be carried out about to find about the contribution of royalty in GDP. Dr Timalsina also added that “Nepal should seek international support for the regulation of Intellectual Property right”. Furthermore, he mentioned, “Protection and promotion of intellectual property should be adopted in national planning documents.”. He highlighted the need for a specific unit to study the crime related to Copyright. Furthermore, Dr Timalsena mentioned that the officers who work in the IT sector lack knowledge about Copyright laws and insisted on training for these officers are a must. He also added that a specific unit is needed for the detection of the crime related to Copyright. Dr Timalsina explained the various remedies for Copyright violation i.e.  Injunction, Prohibition and so on.  He also suggested that the schools and colleges should make an effort to manage awareness class in order to make students aware of different aspects of Copyright. Furthermore, he mentioned that the concept of Copyright shall be explained and shared in a simple language including the information on the rights, remedies in the situation of violation and compensation.

Second keynote speaker: Prakash Acharya (Registrar, Nepal Copyright Registrar Office)

Time duration: 1:20pm-1:45pm

Mr Prakash Acharya mentioned about various roles and functions of Copyright Registrar’s office i.e. Copyright registration, recording of Copyright, transfers and the administrative duties. Mr Acharya highlighted the key provisions of the Copyright Act of Nepal and the role of the copyright Registrar’s office. He mentioned that copyright is both tangible and intangible. It is the creation of the human mind and it is an exclusive right. He highlighted the role of the International agencies like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UN etc in reducing the problematic issues relating to Copyright. He also mentioned about the wide range of scope of copyright. He also mentioned the importance of Berne convention in relation to Copyright. Mr. Acharya mentioned that one can use the creativity of others only after taking his/her permission. He also shared that the time limitation to claim the violation of copyright is limited to within 3 months from the date of knowledge. He concluded his presentation mentioning that there is no clear provision in the Act about the amount of compensation to the victim if his/her intellectual right is violated. He insisted that the laws should be reformed according to the need of society.

Guest Speaker:

Mr.Yadav Kharel, Popular lyricist and Film Director

Time Duration: 1:47pm- 2:00pm

The chief guest of the program Mr Kharel shared his experiences about the issues he faced in copyright and provided suggestions to reform the laws time. He also highlighted the lack of clear government policies regarding copyright. Furthermore, Mr Kharel criticized the lack of uniformity among the organization relating to Royalty Management. He described the need for more discussion based programs to make laws that could cope up with the present issues. He mentioned that “Different substantive laws have been made but still, there is a lack of proper procedural laws as and also there are different loopholes in the procedural part”. He appreciated the program as an effective initiation to discuss, interact and to bring out different solutions to solve the new emerging issues relating to Copyright. He insisted that programs like this should be frequently conducted.

Subash Regmi, Hom Gairi, Suresh Adhikari, SP Koirala (Representatives from different institutions) also shared their experiences on the topic and appealed everyone to be aware of the issues discussed in the program. The guests insisted that there are still many works to be done for the proper regulation of royalty management in Nepal. The guests further shared their experience in different situations in the context of royalty collection in Nepal. The guests stressed in the protection of the economic right of the artist in Nepal and appreciated the role of the program in bringing diverse stakeholders together.

Interaction Session:

The audience that consisted of law students, police officers and artists asked questions to the speakers on various aspect of the Copyright and Royalty management.

The session was ended with the vote of thanks by the Founder Principal of NaLC and Executive Director of the Center, Dr Ram Krishna Timilsena.