Report urges Bahamas to fully enforce copyright laws to comply with WTO and EPA agreements

On February 6, 2009, May Cheng and Gabriel Stern of Fasken Martineau submitted a report to The Government of the Bahamas which examined whether Bahamian law complied with the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations, and those of the EPA (a trade agreement with other Caribbean nations and with the European Union). The report reviewed the nation's existing copyright legislation and found that the Bahamas needed to amend its civil law procedures to meet the enforcement provisions demanded under both free trade agreements. Existing copyright legislation has numerous gaps when it comes to enforcement issues. The Government intends to introduce reforms that would bring the county into line with international standards and its obligations under the WTO and EPA, and may create a public sector agency to focus exclusively on intellectual property rights enforcement and administration.