Chege, John Waruingi2019-06-252020-01-082019-06-252020-01-081976Chege, J. W( 1976) Copyright laws and the publishing industry in Kenya, masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at (http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx?parentpriref=)http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6223Available in print formProperty is an extension of Man’s total personality and is as old as man himself. This essential feature of property derives from the fact that Man, unlike all others animals, is completely unable to physically service in natural environment without the use of tools. The use of tools is possible through Man’s developed nervous system which places him above all other animal species as regards social consciousness, labour, language, and intellectual adaptability to difference environments. Through the use of tools Man is able to adapt the natural environment to his own needs, to produce food reserves in excess of his immediate needs, and to diversify his social functions in division of labour. Indeed writers on the history of Man trace his development throughout the ages in terms of the tools used during each historical epoch, as say, Stone Age Man, Iron Age Man, etc. Tools may be viewed both as artificial prolongation’s of Man’s physiological equipment as well as his first form of property. Writers on the theory of property have distinguished three essential factors in the concept of property: labour, utility, and use-value. It is the labour element in property that signifies the ownership of property to the exclusion of all others. Ownership of property is private or collective, as the case may be, depending on whether the property was acquired through individual or collective effort. Utility is the essential component in the property itself that makes it fill a specific human want or need. While the use-value is the gauge, or index, of the totality of the physical qualities in the property on which the utility is determined. Man’s personality is extended into the property acquired through the labour element, while the utility and use-value of property form the rationale for its acquisition and use. Jurisprudence has classified property in several forms: industrial property, real property, intellectual property, and spiritual property. But in whatever forms, the essential components of property are those related to the elements of labour, utility and use-value. When world population in prehistory epochs was small, there was enough property as might have been desired by every Man. But with the rise of human population property grew in scarcity since everyone could no longer satisfy all his needs through his own labour: for instance, the craftsmen depended on the agriculturist for food which was exchanged in return for the crafts. This exchange was on the basis of the use-value of, say, the food and the crafts in barter. Money was later used as a universal mode of exchange for convenience by later societies. With the growing scarcity of property resources with the increasing division of labour in organized societies, property increasingly became a source of power and control. The Man with large surpluses of say, agricultural produce exercised some control over those having no such stocks and who needed such supplies. Similarly for the craftsmen and the traders. Thus, accumulation of property became an activity synonymous with the accumulation of power. This way the seeds of capitalism were sown in the early societies of Man. A human labour was an essential element in the accumulation of property and capital by a section of society, who sought to benefit at the expense of the rest, Where intellectual property is concerned the property is as old as the invention of writing by the phoenicians in 1500 B.C. An author held the ownership of the composition by virtue of the labour expended in the authorship. And no property could be more a part of his personality than the expression of his mind as contained in art, sculpture, or literary material. During these early times intellectual property was controlled by the customs and traditions of the people as any other property. Literacy was small among the population and cases of plagiarism were minimal. With the invention of printing in the 15th century wide opportunities for intellectual property were opened. The printing press made the reproduction of printed matter into several copies for mass circulation a possibility. The printers or publishers saw the commercial aspects of printing in their favour. There was also the risk of plagiarism by those others in the same trade. Governments saw both the commercial and propaganda prospects in the printed media and accordingly passed various orders for its regulation and control. These are classified in three phases of development in the case of Britain: (1) feudal era, (2) mercantilist era, and (3) capitalist era. During each of the three phases of its development, the law of intellectual property is shown to have been designed to serve the interests of the propertied class who were also the rulers. A definite literary genre was born in each of these historical phases to express the values, attributes and aspirations of the ruling class most conveniently. The rise of English poetry is associated with the feudal aristocracy and Geoffrey Chaucer is the author most representative of the age. Idealist religious literature of the mercantilist era are identified with John Bunyan and Hilton as representatives of the age: While the novel and periodical are associated with the rise of the capitalist era in the eighteenth century Britain. The rise of monopoly capitalism towards the last quarter of the 19th century set the capitalist world in search of sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods. This led to a scramble for colonies and to the expansion of metropolitan institutions and systems overseas. Kenya became colonized during this era and thus inherited the copyright laws of the metropolitan power. The copyright law that governed Kenya during the colonial times continues in post-independent Kenya. The law has favoured the exploitation of the country in three main aspects. First, the law has made it possible for foreign publishers to have easy access to Kenya as a market for their publications. At the time of writing these foreign publishers exceed eighty in number and the revenue involved in the trade per year is in the excess of thirty million shillings. Secondly, the law giving foreign publishers free play on the Kenya market has meant that the country is a victim to editorial policies determined overseas by the foreign capitals like London and New York. Local publishing is also largely subsidized by finance capital from foreign lands and is a mouthpiece for these foreign interests. Thirdly, foreign culture, literary tradition, and capitalist ideology are imposed on the local people and the current copyright law ensures that no indigenous publishing industry rises up to propagate a national culture, ideology, or inform the masses. It is suggested that nothing short of a new economic order will redress the Kenya publishing industry. Kenya needs to reverse her economic policy so that she is in full control of her publishing industry and the current copyright laws need to be repealed and replaced by laws serving to protect the national interests in the field of publishing. The remote control to Kenya communication media needs to be eliminated if the country is going to be really free.enPublishers and publishingKenyaCopyrightKenyaThesis