Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

Clearing the Hurdles

The issue of IP is certainly high on the agenda for the CCIMU with the aim to manage the registration, regulation and the enforcement of IP. To achieve this, there will need to be a harmonised or central legal framework through which rights associated with literary and artistic works, performances, of performing artistes, phonograms and broadcasts, industrial designs, trademarks, and patents at a minimum, can be registered. There will need to be collaboration with national or regional institutions such as the Association of Caribbean Copyrights Societies (ACCS), which represents the region’s collective management organisations. Within the CCIMU, the data collection armwill maintain a registry of all registered IP in the region requiring a trained workforce knowledgeable in this area who can work with financial institutions on IP valuation. The increased development of the region’s creative industries will support job creation in the areas of supplemental roles giving need for the management of technical training in the sectors at the secondary and tertiary levels, as well as in arts administration, management and cultural entrepreneurship. An alliance with international institutions to facilitate exchanges and provide scholarships would also engender growth of an effective skill based industry to support the sector. Another key driver for work in the creative industries is the omnipresence of the online world in everyday life. The creative industries have been both at the forefront of heralding a new digital age, through the creation of video games and the cross-over between creativity and technological innovation in the start-up sector. Globalisation and the convergence ofmultimedia and telecommunications technologies have transformed consumers frompassive recipients of culturalmessages into active co-creators of creative content. Digital distribution in industries such as design andmusic has transformed global markets and allowed new industries and consumers to emerge in developing regions. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it was estimated that licensed digital distribution of recorded music would rise from US$653 million in 2005 to US$4.9 billion in 2010, which represented a 49.5% compound annual increase. In fact, digital music revenues rose fromUS$400million in2004 to US$3.7 billion in 2008 and US$5.9 billion in 2013.Moreover, PwChas revealed that it has since been estimated that digital recordedmusic revenue will overtake physical in 2015 and streaming will overtake downloads in 2017, thus consumer spending will be on digital formats and services.

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