Georgia is a country with a rich and diverse cultural heritage, as well as a vibrant and innovative creative sector. The term “creative economy” refers to economic activities that are fueled by individual or collective creativity, skill, and talent. These activities include advertising, architecture, animation, film production, software development, and many more. Creative industries play a pivotal role in shaping the economic landscape of countries, generating intellectual property and commercial value.
However, creative industries also face many challenges and threats, such as piracy, lack of legal protection, low quality standards, insufficient education and training, and limited access to markets and finance. To address these issues and foster the growth and development of Georgia’s creative sector, the USAID Economic Security Program (ESP) has been implementing various activities over the past five years.
The ESP is a program that aims to strengthen the economic security of Georgians by investing in their human capital, enhancing their competitiveness, and promoting their innovation potential. The program focuses on four strategic areas: education for employability; entrepreneurship; digital economy; and creative economy.
One of the key components of the ESP’s strategy for the creative economy is to support the collective management of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Georgia. IPR refers to the legal rights that protect the ownership and use of original works of authorship. IPR is essential for ensuring that creators are fairly compensated for their work and that consumers have access to quality products and services.
However, IPR protection in Georgia is still weak and fragmented. There are multiple types of IPR rights in different sectors of the creative industry, such as music rights (AMRA), film rights (CAPI), software rights (Sakpatenti), etc. Each type of right has its own legal framework and procedures for registration, enforcement, licensing, etc. Moreover, there are no national or regional organizations that can represent all stakeholders involved in the creative industry.
To address this situation, the ESP has been collaborating with various entities within Georgia’s creative sector to establish a single collective management organization (CMO) for all types of IPR rights. A CMO is an entity that collects fees from users who access or use protected works without authorization from rightsholders. A CMO can also provide services such as dispute resolution, quality assurance, market development, etc.
The ESP has been working with Sakpatenti – National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – as a pilot entity for developing a CMO model for music rights. Sakpatenti has been conducting consultations with various stakeholders from different sectors of the music industry to identify their needs and expectations regarding CMOs. The consultations have resulted in several recommendations for improving CMOs in Georgia.
The ESP has also been supporting other initiatives related to IPR protection in Georgia’s creative sector. For example:
- The ESP has implemented various activities covering pre- and post-production value chains for film production, collaborating with entities like U.S. Department of Commerce CLDP to address copyright issues and promote legal alternatives to piracy.
- The ESP has initiated partnerships, skill development programs, certification-based trainings, and support for quality standards for animation production.
- The ESP has facilitated access to finance and market opportunities for software developers.
The ESP envisions that these initiatives will lead to substantial growth and sustainability of Georgia’s creative sector, as well as increased income and employment for its creators. The ESP also hopes that these initiatives will contribute to enhancing Georgia’s cultural influence and attractiveness as a destination for tourism, investment, and innovation.
