Consultative workshop to support the establishment of a structure for the collective management of copyright and related rights in Equatorial Guinea

On 25 April 2022, a consultative workshop to support the establishment of a structure for the collective management of copyright and related rights in Equatorial Guinea took place. The event, which is also a fact-finding mission, focused on raising awareness among national stakeholders on the need to protect literary and artistic creations, and the preparation of a national law, in close consultation with them.

The sensitisation workshop provided a platform for the African Intellectual Property Office (OAPI) to:

• support proposals on the new legislation on copyright in Equatorial Guinea;

• contribute to the support and harmonisation of African intellectual property rights (IPRs) policy;

• improve networks and tools;

• provide capacity building to national and regional IP institutions as well as MSMEs, and civil society on IPRs, including GIs.

An assessment of the state of literary and artistic property protection in Equatorial Guinea in 2019 by OAPI shows that the country has two legal instruments: the Intellectual Property Law of 10 January 1879 and the regulation on intellectual property of 3 September 1880. These two instruments, which have not been applied, have fallen into disuse, creating a de facto legal vacuum. Therefore, the needs that have emerged from this evaluation have determined the activities to be undertaken.