The Copyrights and Related Rights Bill of 2025 is inimical to the welfare of the very creators it purports to protect

By Macphersson Mutale

While musicians and comedians were engaged in a commendable show of unity and camaraderie on the football field, legislative processes were quietly underway to craft what can only be described as a deeply troubling piece of proposed legislation. The Copyrights and Related Rights Bill of 2025, in its current form, poses serious risks to the very individuals it claims to safeguard.

I make a humble but urgent appeal to artists across all creative disciplines—musicians, writers and authors, comedians, architects, designers, and all practitioners of literary and artistic expression—to demonstrate the same unity, resolve, and organisational strength by convening an immediate indaba to interrogate this Bill thoroughly. Failure to do so may result in the erosion of rights painstakingly built over years of creative labour.

If this Bill passes in its present state, creators risk awakening to a legal reality in which both PACRA and the proposed Rights Management Society of Zambia exercise monopolistic control over copyrights. Such a framework would potentially allow these institutions to authorise the use of creative works without the express consent of the rights holders and without guaranteeing direct financial benefit to the creators themselves.

This matter requires urgent and collective attention. If left unchallenged, artists may find themselves generating wealth for a small class of administrators operating from air-conditioned offices, while the creators—the true source of value—continue to struggle.

Furthermore, the Bill is riddled with ambiguities and governance concerns. These include unclear provisions on the constitution of the Board, the appointment of board members and the Registrar, as well as opaque financial and administrative arrangements. It remains deeply concerning that such boards are routinely constituted through ministerial appointments, raising legitimate questions about independence, accountability, and the protection of creators’ interests.

This is not merely a technical legal issue; it is an existential one for Zambia’s creative industry. Silence at this moment may prove costly. Vigilance, consultation, and decisive engagement are imperative. Comrade B Flow (Brian Mumba Kasoka Bwembya) you have a huge task to marshal and constitute a committee that will help you come up with a position paper with proposed amendments to this bill. My One Cent.

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