The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has expressed willingness to work with Zimbabwe on strengthening intellectual-property administration and enforcement, although no active partnership currently exists between the American agency and Zimbabwe’s intellectual-property authorities.
USPTO Intellectual Property Attaché for Sub-Saharan Africa Katherine Hiner made the disclosure during an on-the-record digital press briefing hosted by the United States Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub on Wednesday.
“We don’t have any ongoing partnerships right now with ZIPO, but we are always really eager to hear from the offices and the stakeholders in each country to understand the challenges and how we can plug in for potential cooperation,” Hiner said.
The disclosure places the initiative on Zimbabwean authorities and industry stakeholders to identify areas in which the country requires technical assistance. These could include training copyright and patent officials, modernising digital-rights administration, improving royalty tracking and strengthening enforcement against online piracy.
The World Intellectual Property Organization currently identifies the Companies and Intellectual Property Office of Zimbabwe as the country’s national IP office. Zimbabwe has been a WIPO member since 1981 and is party to several international intellectual-property agreements. WIPO’s Zimbabwe profile, however, does not list the country as a contracting party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty or the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
The two agreements, commonly called the WIPO Internet Treaties, were designed to extend copyright and related-rights protection into the digital environment. They cover issues such as the online distribution of creative works, digital-rights information and measures used to prevent unauthorised access or copying.
Zimbabwe’s 2004 law faces a new digital market
Zimbabwe’s principal legislation is the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, which came into operation in September 2004. The law protects literary, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, computer programmes and audiovisual productions. It also provides civil and criminal remedies for infringement. WIPO’s legal database lists the available version as amended up to Act 32 of 2004.
The legislation gives copyright holders control over the reproduction, publication, public performance, broadcasting and adaptation of their works. However, the digital economy has changed significantly since the law was enacted.
Music, films, photographs and news content can now be copied and circulated internationally within minutes through social-media pages, messaging applications, streaming services and pirate websites. Artificial intelligence has introduced further questions about whether protected material can be used to train systems or generate new content without the knowledge or permission of its creators.
Hiner said African governments need both modern laws and the political will to implement them.
“Music isn’t just a mood or a vibe. It is a business,” she said, warning that piracy should not be viewed as a victimless offence.
For Zimbabwe, stronger protection could help musicians, filmmakers, photographers, writers, broadcasters, software developers and digital publishers convert online popularity into measurable income.
A song trending on TikTok or YouTube does not automatically guarantee that every songwriter, performer and producer involved will be correctly identified and paid. Accurate ownership records, contracts, digital identifiers and functioning royalty-collection systems are required to trace how a work is used and distribute the resulting revenue.
Royalties and transparency under spotlight
Hiner said African countries should improve the transparency and accountability of collective management organisations, which license protected works and collect royalties where individual creators cannot practically negotiate with every broadcaster, venue or digital user.
Zimbabwe’s Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act provides for collective copyright administration, while organisations including the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association operate within the country’s music sector.
Effective collective management requires accurate membership and ownership databases, transparent deductions, auditable royalty calculations and reciprocal relationships with foreign collecting societies. Those arrangements can enable a Zimbabwean artist to receive royalties when their music is played in another country.
WIPO says its Connect digital system allows collective management organisations to administer works and rights-holder information locally while exchanging data through regional and international networks. It also provides technical assistance and specialised training for policymakers, rights holders and collecting organisations. WIPO’s collective-management resources include governance guidance, training and dispute-resolution support.
Hiner cited research presented during recent workshops estimating that Kenya and Nigeria together lose US$286 million in uncollected recorded-music revenue annually.
“The talent and demand are there, but the value is slipping through the gap,” she said.
Although no equivalent figure was provided for Zimbabwe, the regional findings indicate the potential losses that arise when songs are broadcast, streamed, downloaded or publicly performed without reliable usage reporting and royalty collection.
What cooperation could mean for Zimbabwe
A formal cooperation programme between Zimbabwe and the USPTO could provide training for intellectual-property examiners, enforcement authorities, prosecutors and industry representatives.
It could also support discussions on cross-border enforcement, digital piracy, royalty administration, intellectual-property education and the protection of local inventions and brands.
Hiner pointed to an Accelerated Patent Grant Agreement signed between the USPTO and Ghana as an example of the cooperation available to African states. Under that arrangement, Ghana may use work already completed during the examination of a corresponding United States patent to streamline its own review process.
Such a model would not automatically grant foreign patent holders rights in Zimbabwe. Any future agreement would require negotiations and would have to operate within Zimbabwean law. However, technical cooperation could reduce examination backlogs and improve the capacity to assess increasingly complex applications in biotechnology, telecommunications, artificial intelligence and other emerging fields.
For local businesses, stronger patent and trademark administration could make it easier to protect inventions and brands, attract investment and negotiate licensing agreements. For creators, improved copyright enforcement could increase confidence that commercially successful work will generate revenue instead of being freely exploited.
Piracy requires coordinated enforcement
Hiner identified three priorities for African markets: improving transparency in royalty collection, educating creators and the public about intellectual-property rights, and equipping enforcement agencies to combat piracy.
She said online infringement frequently crosses national borders, making cooperation between governments, technology platforms and law-enforcement agencies necessary.
In Zimbabwe, enforcement would require coordination involving intellectual-property authorities, police, prosecutors, customs officials, internet and mobile-service providers, broadcasters, digital platforms and rights-holder organisations.
Enforcement must also be balanced with lawful exceptions for education, research, criticism and news reporting. Zimbabwe’s Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act already recognises forms of fair dealing and other permitted uses, meaning stronger protection should target commercial infringement without criminalising legitimate public-interest uses.
AI creates new copyright test
Hiner acknowledged that artificial intelligence was creating complex legal and policy questions for both innovators and creators.
She said established principles such as fair use and fair dealing would remain central to determining whether particular uses of copyrighted works were lawful.
For Zimbabwe, the AI debate is likely to involve questions over the use of music, photographs, books, journalism and traditional cultural expressions in training datasets. It also raises questions about authorship and ownership when content is substantially generated by machines.
Any legal reform would therefore need to protect creators while preserving legitimate research, education, innovation and access to information.
The USPTO’s IP for Growth initiative will continue for a year after events in Geneva, Lagos and Johannesburg brought together policymakers, musicians, producers, entertainment lawyers and industry executives.
The programme is expected to conclude with further discussions at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights meeting in Geneva in December.