“We hope that once that is tabled and passed, we can deal with the other issues that concern parties in both of our nations by way of negotiation,” Minister of Financial Services and Investments Allyson Maynard-Gibson said.
But she did not go into much detail regarding the new bill.
Government officials remain disappointed that The Bahamas remains on a U.S. watch list with about 50 other countries. But there has been little indication that the government has done anything yet to get the Bahamas off that list.
However, Minister Maynard-Gibson said Wednesday the United States has already agreed to provisions in a new bill that will be tabled.
The Bahamas continues to face pressure from U.S. authorities to correct copyright violations. United States officials have been keeping their eyes on Cable Bahamas for alleged copyright violations regarding reproduced American made material on cable channels here.
The U.S. has threatened to impose sanctions against countries violating U.S. intellectual property laws.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has said that open markets and rules that guarantee the protection of intellectual property are critical to the continued health of the creative sectors of the U.S. economy.
U.S. officials are concerned that the compulsory license provision in local law is too broad and allows cable companies to have too much latitude in the distribution of their channels.
They have also expressed concerns that the Government of The Bahamas has failed to consult with affected U.S. copyright holders regarding the issue of equitable remuneration for the compulsory licensing for free over the air broadcasts.
Minister Maynard-Gibson also said that the problem of compulsory licensing under the present copyright law is that although Bahamians are willing to pay for the service, many international cable providers find The Bahamas not to be a lucrative market because of its small population.
“We are basically in a Catch-22 situation,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said. “We want to pay but they don’t want to accept our money.”
Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said that what the government has to do is “point out the blatant unfairness of such a position and negotiate around that position.”
Cable Bahamas officials have in the past dismissed concerns that U.S. officials have been monitoring the company for alleged copyright violations.
“I don’t think we are threatened in any way whatsoever,” Chief Executive Officer of Cable Bahamas, Brendan Paddick told the Bahama Journal.
He added that Cable Bahamas is operating fairly as it has paid out millions of dollars over the years into a local fund that copyright holders could access if they feel they have claims against the company.
Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
