Amend the Copyright Law- Creatives

The launch stage was set, the speeches polished, but the loudest moment at the awards launch came without a microphone drop — just a legal one. In between the applause, Industry voice Seabelo Modibe raised a reality check: Botswana’s music industry isn’t just fighting for airplay; it’s fighting outdated legislation. “One of the biggest challenges… is that government and artists are working apart,” he said, pointing to a law that still demands hologram-stamped CDs for radio submissions.

In a Spotify age, that’s like asking TikTok stars for VHS tapes. For young artists, the requirement is more than inconvenient, it’s exclusionary. “These things discourage young people,” Modibe warned.

When access to airwaves depends on obsolete formats, innovation gets stuck in customs. “If Rratsie Setlhako’s songs go into public domain it means COSBOTS does not pay those royalties,” Modibe said. Translation: the soundtrack of a nation risks becoming economically ownerless.

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Veteran music artist, Bafana “Phempheretlhe” Pheto put it in painfully human terms. “I released my song ‘Lekunutu’ in 1997 and if I die they start counting the years and they won’t consider that I have children and family because the law says so.” With the lateDuncan Senyatsoalready 30 years gone, the clock is ticking on yet another catalogue.

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