What is Copyright!

Story  by Kaggai Wambui
When one hears about Copyright what goes through their minds? Firstly Copyright is one form of Intellectual Property (IP).  IP is an area of law that protects and promotes the creations of mind. The other form of an IP is Industrial Property, which entails protection of trademarks, service marks, utility models, patents even industrial designs. Copyright on the other hand relates to literary, artistic and musical works.

So what is Copyright? It refers to an exclusive bundle of rights granted by law to creators. Creators can be authors of literary works, producers of audio-visuals works and films, architects, performers, broadcasters and even photographers.

The importance of Copyright protection to the creators is to balance the interests of the public and those of the creators. It is important to keep the creators motivated so that they may continue to promote their creativity activity for cultural, social and industrial progress for themselves and the state as well. 

Copyright protects the expression of an idea from being copied without authority; it does not however protect the concept or idea.

The first owner of a Copyright work is its Creator, for example Musical works- Producer, Photographs- Photographers and Cinematographic work- Producer. Copyright protection offers a Rights owner with the following;

Economic Rights, the rights to;

Reproduce in any material form

Distribute to the public by way of sale, rent, lease, and hire loan.

Perform the work in public.

2.  Moral Rights. This entitles the author to claim authorship of the work and object 

        to distortion or mutilation prejudicial to his honors or reputation.

3. Related Rights. The Rights of producers of sound recordings.

          Broadcasters’ Rights and Performers Rights.

The Copyright protection in majority instances lasts for the life of the creator plus 50years. If the creator is unknown the period of protection is 50 years from date published. Audio-visual works, photographs, sound recordings and broadcasters are protected 50 years from the date of publication.

The KENYA COPYRIGHT BOARD (KECOBO) is a state corporation established under section 3 of the Copyright Act CAP 130 of the laws of Kenya its mandate is to administer and enforce Copyright and related rights in Kenya.

Located in NHIF Building in Nairobi, Kenya authors of varies works can get their publications copyrighted for as low as 1000 shillings per work. 

When going to register one requires the following

2 original copies of the work. The work must be in tangible form including digital form for example CD, books etc.

The work must be of original authorship it must not be copied.

A dully-completed form duly filled, signed and commissioned.

Once the registration takes place the process takes about 7 working days. 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Passion is what drives me!

Story by Nathan Abusho

Passion is what drives me. Though it has never been put into real practice until I was expected to do it on 23th June, 2013, it sounded a bit ambiguous for I never knew this time will one day come but as the lay man say time will always speak. Everything I had learnt for the past three months had to be put into practice, which only made me nervous but it was clear I had to prove that my stay at Kibera Film School was not a waste of time but there was real account of time.

   Time was now I had to either be a filmmaker or not, it was unusual day to me, My World-Destiny I believed I had gone through pre production well which consisted of script writing, casting and distributing the release forms; my crew and cast were ready to put every word on the script to a real action that was to be visualized, the set was designed, everything and everyone waiting for the director who was me to call it on.

   Everything went as planned though the handycam that I was to use developed some mechanical problem but I was helped by trainers who were always there to help in every situation that was a bit difficult, it was a day that has always remained in my memory just like a new paint always, every day I feel that Kibera Film School is the right place for me and all that have a passion for filmmaking for I, you get to learn and practice all the aspects of film making.

  

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

MR DIRECTOR!

Words of David Weda

My first experience as a director was when I was shooting my first project ('My World' a 2 minutes short film), which is called ‘Watiaji’. It was a ‘my world’ project which is about one’s personal experience and mine was inspired by a true story.

It is about the life of a young man, Bushman who is criticized by his nosy neighbours. The neighbours connive to have him evicted from his house so that they can occupy his room, as housing is a problem in Kibera.

I had a fantastic crew and cast who helped me complete this project. We experienced some challenges but we managed to overcome them. First we didn’t have electricity and the lighting was poor but thanks to the innovative minds from Hot Sun Foundation we managed to shoot. 

I also thank my crew and cast for their co-operation as this was a zero budget film, but they did their best out of the passion they have for film and the ethics we acquired fro Hot Sun Foundation.

Being a director is fun but a little bit tricky as you are supposed to bring out the visual interpretation of the script, you have to be open minded and get remarks from the actors and crew as some will not be comfortable with how you want them to say a particular line or how to act it. But sometimes I had to be strict with them so that I achieve what I wanted at the end of it all.

I must admit it is an overwhelming job but its what I want to be, my mentors are Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Orson wells and James Cameron.

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Documentary Film Challenge-The Ultimate Award.

words of Joseph Matu

Every opportunity is a chance to make a difference, and comes with a lot of responsibility.

Each of the trainees in the Kibera Film School class of 2013 could feel the responsibility that the award from Influence Film Foundation www.influencefilmfoundation.com/ entailed. This did not in any way dampen the excitement and anticipation we all had. After all, we were the first class in Kibera Film School history to be given a chance to make a documentary that will be entirely funded from Europe.

We were to make up groups that will come up with ideas for a documentary. The ideas will be shortlisted to 3 finalists that will eventually be presented before a panel of judges who will select one to receive the funding to shoot and make it a reality.

Our finance manager Anne Mwaniki emphasized the need to have focus and dedication in this project as it was a maiden task, and the need for excellence in execution was mandatory. We all pledged to work hard and ensure the trust and belief bestowed on us was not in vain.

Joseph Matu listens keenly as Bade Aluoch presents his ideas for their documentary.

It has been a long journey in the last two months, as we have been doing research for our documentaries. The three finalist groups are doing very interesting stories related to our environment and urban slums. They are all inspiring and well-researched stories.

We have had eye opening sessions with Nathan Collet, a renowned film director. He advised us on the need to ensure that our stories have very strong visual aspects. Nathan ensures that we keep him updated on the story development, so that he can guide us and give us relevant feedback. He has made us see the setbacks we might have while shooting our stories, so we have to be more prepared.

Mercy Murugi an experienced producer and trustee of Hot Sun Foundation has given us valuable lessons on production. We are currently preparing to have an exercise in pitching with her this week. She has also taken us through enlightening sessions on budget preparation.

We also had a visit from Judy Kibinge, an award-winning director. Judy shared her insights on documentary making, and screened some of her documentaries, and a memorable Chinese documentary called ‘Please Vote Me’. She also took questions and advised us on script development.

In our field session we had the priveledge of being accompanied by Agur and Nick Kozak. They are professional photographers from Norway and Canada respectively. The two accompanied us on weekly trips to the field as we researched and interviewed our subjects. They taught us how to interact with the interviewees’ and make them feel comfortable and so make it easier for them to tell us their stories.  The two helped sharpen our photography skills and gave us tips on composition amongst other things.

We now have the entire schedule about the documentary shoot, and we have the three finalists.





The three stories are: -

 1. Destruction for survival. - This is centered on the destruction of Ngong forest.

 2. Ghetto Ambulance- A story about a taxi driver who uses his vehicle to rush critical slum residents to hospital at no cost.

 3. The 11 Brothers- this is about vigilante groups in 2nd largest slum in Africa, Kibera. 

They are all stories that will bring positive change to the society,

Keep it here to find out, which documentary we will be shooting later in the year. Whichever story wins, it will be victory for all of us at Kibera Film School. 

 Agur professional photographer from Canada.

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Want to become a filmmaker?

Want to become a filmmaker? good place to start: Foundation in Filmmaking 5 months full time hands-on comprhensive training Apply  accounts@hotsunfoundation.org . LIMITED SLOTS.

Trainees on set

Trainees with Thomas Binsert...Arri sales director Africa

Maria, a trainee tries her hand on Nikon D800

  
To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

THE JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGAN.

Charles Isaboke

My journey of becoming a filmmaker just started during the shoot of my first project known as 'My World'. I thought becoming a good filmmaker was just an easy way but I was wrong. The OUT WASH is the title of my first short film. Despite enjoying myself, I faced myriads of challenges.

In order to make a good film one needs to make sure she/he has each and every equipment needed for the shoot. Personally I had a problem with lighting, continuity and sound. That day I was under alot of pressure, I had to make sure that the crew had everything needed on set and the actors were well dressed, had make-up and fed.

In a film every minute or second is very important to a filmmaker. You must be a good timekeeper, know how to communicate with both your crew and your actors well in order to make a good film. Planning also plays a very good role because without having a plan as a filmmaker you are doomed.

There is usually tension as being the director. This is because you usually keep on wondering if all your plans would work well or not. This is normal to every person who is trying to work his plans out. The only way to overcome this is to calm down and organize yourself.

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page