ISLAMABAD: Terming piracy a heinous crime against copyright, book publishers, authors and senior management of Intellectual Property Organization (IPO-Pakistan) on Monday pledged to join hands to overcome this issue in an effective manner.
This was decided during a meeting held in connection with the Copyright Outreach Programme organised by IPO-Pakistan.
IPO-Pakistan Chairman Mujeeb Ahmed Khan chaired the meeting where Pakistan’s leading publishers, writers and directors were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, IPO-Pakistan Chairman Mujeeb Ahmed Khan admitted that copyright has been a neglected area for the last 70 years. “But now the focus will be to protect the rights of publishers, writers, authors and booksellers.”
He apprised the participants that amendments were being made in copyright laws to make it more effective.
Khan stressed that IPO-Pakistan, along with its stakeholders, should make piracy of copyright a moral issue and for this purpose awareness was needed at all levels.
The participants of the meeting pointed out flaws in the copyright laws and asked IPO-Pakistan to overcome the loopholes in this regard. They suggested that as a first step, IPO and Higher Education Commission (HEC) should write letters to all the public and private sector universities to stop using pirated books in their universities.
They requested IPO-Pakistan to create awareness among masses and presented their full support in this regard.
