Namibia's traditional music faces exploitation due to inadequate copyright laws

Namibia's traditional musical expressions, including rhythms, ritual melodies, and communal songs, are vulnerable to exploitation because the country's 1994 Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act primarily focuses on identifiable authorship, offering little protection for communally owned works. This legal gap allows commercial entities and artists to record and monetize traditional music without adequately compensating the communities that have preserved these cultural assets for generations. While Namibia signed the Swakopmund Protocol, which promotes free, prior, and informed consent and equitable benefit-sharing for traditional cultural expressions, domestic law has not yet been updated to reflect this framework. The article suggests establishing a specialized statutory structure, possibly under the Business and Intellectual Property Authority Bipa, to act as a legal custodian for undocumented communal musical works. This entity would maintain a national registry and manage licensing, ensuring that commercial exploitation benefits the originating communities through reinvestment in cultural preservation and community projects, rather than simple cash payments. The Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music Nascam is also urged to review its royalty handling for traditional or unattributed music to ensure funds support the communities.