CATEGORY:COMMENTARY
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By Dr. Francis Alexis (local attorney-at-law)



When Arif Ali’s Hansib Publishing in England, well advised by Wayne Francis, in 1994 published the pictorial book GRENADA : Spice Isle of the
Caribbean, consciousness on intellectual property rights issues was not generally advanced. It is different today when we begin to sell in Grenada
copies of the book CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS (2004) written jointly by William D. Hawthorne, Dean Jules and Guido Marcelle; and published by Oxford University Forestry Institute, England; the book I wrote on last week from completely different perspectives.

There is now pervasive consciousness on copyright issues, and as the book is published in collaboration with Grenada Forestry Department and the Department For International Development (“DFID”) -UK, there inevitably arise legitimate public interests in certain intellectual property rights issues; royalty and copyright questions on the sharing of profits from sales of CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS ANOTHER MODEL CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS is sure to become a template for comparable books on other Caribbean countries, if not indeed for countries farther afield, like in Africa and Asia .

Not that this is entirely the first book of its kind to be published, thus, Dominica has one roughly comparable presenting itself as Nature Island. But Grenada’s spice plant flora, in its tropical rain forest setting, must in many respects be unique; and universally exciting, for its breathtaking beauty, the multiplicity of its
variety and the versatility of its utility. No wonder Oxford University put its imprimatur on the book.

The World Wide Web that is the internet having begun showcasing CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS, other countries in our today’s global village that is the world will lose no time cashing in on the idea of their having a similar book on their flora.


COMMISSIONING
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Other countries will take note of how CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS was commissioned. The Grenada Forestry Department, Ministry of Agriculture &
Forestry, Government of Grenada, was instrumental in commissioning the research which engendered the book, and for this the Department must be
highly congratulated. The research project was financed by the Department For International Development (“DFID”) of the United Kingdom, and for this technical assistance the British must be gratefully thanked.

Matching the commissioning and financing of the research for the book, a cross-Atlantic team of botanists, plant scientists, did the research and
went on to become joint authors of the book. The main author, Professor William D. Hawthorne, is of Oxford University, England. The other two, Mr.
Dean Jules and Dr. Guido Marcelle, are both employees of the Government of Grenada Ministry of Agriculture, Jules at Forestry and Marcelle at the
Produce Chemist Laboratory.


COPYRIGHT
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If a coincidence, it is rather striking that on 28 September last, St. George’s University at its True Blue Campus hosted a public lecture on
copyright delivered by Ms. Alison Demas, Trinidadian Attorney-at-Law specializing in copyright law. When Ms. Demas delivered the lecture, CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS had not yet been released on sale on the market locally in Grenada, although its sale had long already been underway on the internet.

Sale of the book in Grenada began only after I wrote on the book in this column last week and called for its release locally in Grenada. So St.
George’s University and Ms. Demas could not have been more timely with that lecture on copyright. It is to be hoped that Ms. Demas’ lecture will be
made available publicly in print, whoever has the copyright in it, given contemporary copyright concerns.


WHO SHARES
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Take CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS. The book says that its main author Professor Hawthorne of Oxford has asserted “moral rights” over the book.
The concept “moral rights” is a species of the wider copyright genre established by an Act of the UK Parliament. No one can blame the Oxford
Professor for asserting his rights; he must be commended for standing up for his rights.

Hawthorne’s alertness in England should be matched in Grenada. So the question arises whether any copyright and royalty rights have been asserted
by the Government of Grenada, whose Forestry Department commissioned the research, and whose employees Jules and Marcelle jointly with Hawthorne authored the book. Does our Government have any idea how many copies of the book are being sold on the internet? Interestingly, Martinique moved to advertise the book on the internet to promote its tourism.

The information on the plants in the book, especially the local folk culture names of those plants, is part of the national and natural
resources, the patrimony, of the people of Grenada.

Someone somewhere should say something to protect the copyright and royalty rights of the people of Grenada regarding the book. As to these rights, Forestry can be forgiven for being lost in the woods. This is the business of the Legal
Department, with the Attorney-General as the principal legal adviser to Government and with the special legal adviser to Cabinet.

Instead of those two Law Officers of the Crown trifling with the Constitution of Grenada and frittering away the resources of the country on
the wholly groundless flippant fancy of unseating Peter David by the proceedings brought in court, they should take a leaf from Hawthorne’s book
for the Government and people of Grenada and Government workers Jules and Marcelle who co-authored the book with Hawthorne.

We need to know who has copyright in this book on Grenada – is it Hawthorne alone, or is it shared by the Government of Grenada for the people of Grenada and Government employees Jules and Marcelle?

Those two Government Lawyers should tell us what they have done, and what they intend to do, to protect these public copyright interests in CARIBBEAN SPICE ISLAND PLANTS.