CopyRightX: The GoDown
Through our partnership with the Harvard Law School, the Harvard X Distance Learning Initiative, and the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society, we deliver Copyright X – The GoDown, a rigorous 12-week course on Copyright Law open to creatives from all areas of practice. The program primarily uses material developed by Professor William T. Fisher III of Harvard Law School. However, the course includes extensive instructional input from a team of seasoned Kenyan professionals from the creative sector who ably contextualize the material, interweaving the concepts of international law with local applications and cases.
Screenshot of CopyrightX: The GoDown E-learning platform
CopyrightX explores the current law of copyright; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how the law should be reformed. Through a combination of in-person classes, recorded lectures, and relevant course readings, participants in the course examine and assess the ways in which the Kenyan copyright system seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression. They are also able to conduct a comparative study looking at copyright regimes in the US and elsewhere around the globe.
Screenshot of CopyrightX: The GoDown E-learning platform
Through a seasoned team of expert Copyright teachers, the GoDown in conjunction with CODE IP has been delivering the CopyrightX course in Kenya since 2014. The class has been extremely well received since inception, with the course being over-subscribed each year, necessitating a strict and rigorous interview process.
The GoDown Arts Centre identifies capacity building for artists as one of its key pillars. As such, it runs the CopyrightX:The GoDown and the Creative Entrepreneurship Courses to meet an important need in the sector.
The GoDown’s Copyright Kenya online platform seeks to equip artists and other stakeholders with information pertaining to intellectual property rights in Kenya, and facilitating discussions, knowledge sharing, and even debate in this important area.