Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, says Barbados is moving towards strengthening protection for artists and content creators through the new Copyright Bill 2025, now before Parliament.
Tabling the legislation in the Lower House on Tuesday, Symmonds said the current 1998 Act left creators exposed and unable to enforce their rights without money or legal firepower.
“Under the 1998 legislation, no power was given to the licensing body to bring any action for infringement of a copyright in a work within its repertoire,” he said, noting that COSCAP, the organisation responsible for collecting and managing licences, could not itself initiate legal action even when a member’s work was stolen.
“That is now changed. The licensing authority is now empowered to bring the action against infringement, so that for the first time the licensing authority has locus standi before the court. It has a relevant interest.”
Symmonds maintained that this shift was a lifeline for creators who could not afford lawsuits.
“Before, if you are out of pocket, you are a poor and penniless musician who happened to do a good piece of work, but then somebody comes and humbug you. You are still poor and penniless because you don’t see your returns yet, then you’ve got to struggle now to pay senior counsel good money to represent you in court,” the minister stated.
By giving COSCAP the power to sue infringers on behalf of creators, Symmonds said the bill puts enforcement power in institutional hands instead of depending on individuals with limited means.
“The advantage is that the licensing authority is an institution – it has greater reach, it has deeper pockets, it has greater capacity to pursue remedies, and therefore the licensing authority acts as an empowering agent on behalf of the ordinary holder of the copyright.”
He added that this change protects, “the little small man in Fitts Village who had a design that somebody thief,” allowing COSCAP to, “fight on his behalf while he continues to let his ideas flourish.”
The minister revealed that the bill also modernises Barbados’ copyright framework to align with international standards by extending copyright duration.
“We are changing the duration of the copyright. It was 50 years before, and we moved it to 75 years in order to align with the Berne Convention and also the World Copyright Treaty,” Symmonds said.
Additionally, he said the bill expands creators’ control over how their works are shared in the digital era.
“We facilitate the expansion of the rights of the copyright owner to include the exclusive right to determine how that work is to be communicated to the public — whether via downloading, sharing data, streaming, or any of the modern ways of broadcasting. All of them are captured,” he pointed out.
Symmonds argued that protecting creative work was not only a cultural or legal reform but an economic and social one.
“We have a duty in the Parliament to open the doors of opportunity to the people who sent us here… They too have a right to be able to earn money. They too have a right to dream dreams of being better off,” he added. (SB)
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