By Richie Lasrado, Resident Editor, Daijiworld.com - Sunday, 3-30 pm
Pics Praveen Tauro Kulshekar

Mangalore, Apr 2: Just as any produce or product has its set price, intellectual property also has its value. This cannot be gauged or evaluated in terms of cash alone.

Konkann Kogull Wilfy Rebimbus being greeted by Vishwa Konkani Kala Ratn Eric Ozario

Anyone's creativity has its own value anywhere in the world, enjoying unique respect in society. However, in Konkani, there has been a feeling that any creative product in circulation is public property and that it can be used, misused or even abused as one likes.

With a view to assisting creative persons like music-writers and authors in asserting their rights under the intellectual property rights and the legal recourse available in pursuing them, a brain-storming session called 'Attov' - literally meaning cerebration - or 'Manthan' was organized by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy in Sandesha hall at 10-00 am on Sunday, April 2.

Stephen Quadros, Wilfy Rebimbus, Khadeeja Saleem and Leslie Rego

It was also aimed at making the society aware of the gross violations of these rights taking place over the past years and also their responsibilty in avoiding them, thus supporting creative authors and artistes and rewarding their efforts financially, by opposing piracy and shunning pirated products.

Wilfy Rebimbus and Eric Ozario sharing their views

The subject was 'Music, literature and other illellectual creations, the authors' rights and the society's duty in this regard'. 

Actor, master of ceremonies and entrepreneur Leslie Rego spoke on the field of music, theatre and moving arts, while college lecturer and writer-critic Stephen Quadros spoke from the literary angle.

Leslie Rego and Khadeeja Saleem addressing the gathering

Khadeeja Saleem, an alumna of SDM Law college here and now an intellectual property rights consultant at High Court, Mumbai gave a fund of legal information on the subject of intellectual rights, including patent, copyright, trademarks etc.

The dignitaries on the dais were offered bouquets by Academy registrar Dr Duggappa Kajekar.

Academy president Eric Ozario made the introductory remarks and moderated the session.

Sections of the audience

In his welcome speech, Ozario made a special mention of the  presence of 'Konkann Kogull' Wilfy Rebimbus as the guest of honour, and added that it was Rebimbus who had given a new dimension and a new direction to Konkani music, which over 40 years ago, was merely made of tunes lifted from popular Hindi songs. It was Wilfy who showed the world that Konkani music had its own charm, identity and image, and in the process inspiring many others, including Eric himself, to venture into song-writing, said Ozario in praise of Wilfy.

He further said that the aim of the session was not just to make or listen to speeches, go home and then forget about the whole thing. Instead, a constructive action plan was necessary. He proposed formation of a committee to pursue the subject and create public awareness on protection of intellectual property rights.

At the end of the session, an interesting interaction followed, with Khadeeja Saleem giving clarifications to questions raised by the members of the audience.

The follow-up committee

A follow-up committee consisting of Khadeeja Saleem, Wilfy Rebimbus, Eric Ozario, Stephen Quadros, Leslie Rego, Dolphy Lobo Cascia and Vitori Karkal was formed. They will meet further to chalk out an action plan.