2003 Special 301 report on Kenya

By The International Intellectual Property Alliance

As the U.S. government moves to enhance trade with African countries, it is important to address a full range of trade issues, and to call out significant breaches of international and local law in the form of heavy trade losses due to overall poor copyright enforcement and legislation. Further, it is important that the U.S. government target resources to those markets that will have the most impact on overall trade growth in the region. Kenya is such a market, being the largest market in the East African region and a leader in economic policy directions. Kenya serves as a distribution point for goods into countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. As such, piracy in Kenya has the potential to damage markets throughout East Africa. On the other hand, strong leadership in protection of copyright industries can incubate local talent and raise Kenya’s role as a leader in this segment of the economy. This report summarizes the state of intellectual property protection in Kenya and how poor copyright enforcement and legislation in the Kenyan market affects trade in the region, suggesting measures that can be taken to right the situation.