WIPOD – Intellectual Property Matters: Transcript of Classroom Conversations – Episode 9

Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival and IP

Karen Lee: Welcome to Intellectual Property Matters. In this WIPO podcast, we explore the fascinating world of creativity, innovation and intellectual property. Let's listen, learn, and get inspired.

Natalie Humsi:  Hello, everyone. Welcome to today's episode of Classroom Conversations, a WIPO Academy series, and I'm joined today by Regan Mark Asgarali, the Controller of the Intellectual Property Office of Trinidad and Tobago. Regan has led the establishment of the Intellectual Property (IP) Academy of Trinidad and Tobago, which officially launched in 2022, and forms part of the WIPO Academy's IP Training Institutions network.

Today Reagan will explain how intellectual property plays into the Carnival celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago. So, Regan, can you briefly explain to our listeners what is Carnival? And why is IP important when it comes to this key event?

Regan Asgarali: Well, thank you Natalie, and thank you to your audience. I'm happy to be here and to talk about what is known in Trinidad and Tobago as the greatest show on earth. Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival is officially celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday every year.

Indeed, Dr. Lester Efebo Wilkinson in The Manifestation of National Traditional Cultural Expressions through Works of Mas and Carnival, he refers to it as rituals of power and rebellion. To quote, the Carnival Tradition in Trinidad and Tobago which "identifies the roots of the Carnival tradition as masking or masquerade, music and dance" fused together. He further explains "over time, and given the passage of various ordinances that saw the drum and other aspects of the Mas being outlawed, the music, dances, instrumentation and masquerade of Carnival evolved to its present form".

Fast forward to today, the industry is an important source of revenue for our economy. It plays a vital and pivotal role in promoting the country regionally and internationally. Indeed, aspects of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival have spawned well over 50+ other carnivals. Some may know of: Notting Hill in the UK, Caribana in Canada, Labor Day in New York, Miami Carnival… So certain aspects of this have morphed towards the development of some of those carnivals, together with other West Indian and Latin American influences.

So right now in fact IP plays a critical role for stakeholders in the Carnival industry. It underpins the protection for bands, such as Mas bands, such as tribe, through their trademark protection, and even utilizing the Madrid Protocol System that Trinidad and Tobago is part of.

And it also, you know, allows for protection of the physical costumes through our "Works of Mas" provision in the Copyright Act. Styles of dance, music, oratory forms, etcetera, can be protected. And, of course, these manifestations are passed from generation to generation.

Why is IP so important is the question? We are in the process through the IP Training Institute of Trinidad and Tobago of developing "Carnival for Mas Practitioners and Band Leaders" for the creative industry. A first of its kind course to teach our Carnival industry practitioners the art of how to make a living from the Carnival industry.

So when you also go into the question about copyright, it protects the music, which is used at the Carnival events. The music thrives around the Carnival season. Many artists who compose, who produce, who publish, numerous songs must have modern copyright protection through our very modern laws in Trinidad and Tobago. So these artists have that protection and they invest valuable time and capital and other resources into their work, therefore, their creative efforts must be applauded and their products protected by the IP system.

Copyright also extends to the photos that are taken. So one question which is commonly asked around Carnival is whether masqueraders can take photographs of themselves and others, and what happens if other people take photographs? So when the individual is in a public place, there's no legal requirement that the individual's permission should be obtained prior to taking the photograph. But if during Carnival, a masquerader's image appears in a Carnival compilation through an accredited photographer along the route. In other words, a photographer who was paid to take the photographs for the particular route, then there is not much the masquerader can do to object, as the photograph was taken by an accredited photographer in the public place, and these things are all in the contractual agreements before.

Just to make one last point on this one, Carnival has been here for many, many years. Developing, and always with innovations, imagination, creativity, and the persons with their passion for crafts to protect such craft, the costume designs… You know, the IP Training Institute is moving to have such tailored courses to see about this.

And of course, even so, I've talked about copyright, I've talked about trademarks, you know, let us not forget patents. Patents are critical to the protection of inventions. So when you look at the ability of let's say, I'm just going to give an example, the potential of supporting legs, to stilts, and adding ridges to bodies, which is sort of our Moko Jumbie tradition in the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, and to allow persons to dismount from them easily. Exploring whether such things and improvements on these areas can be patents is also important as we go about it.

So these are some examples. I've even spoken about the industrial design protection that can exist for some of the ornamental aspects of articles in the Mas, but IP plays this critical underpinning role to support our carnival industry.

Natalie Humsi: WIPO has recently launched a project under the framework of the COVID-19 Response Package to help Trinidad and Tobago forge an IP management strategy for the IP assets of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival Museum. Can you tell me more about this project and what it means for the country.

Regan Asgarali: This project goes at the heart and thrust of our developmental needs, and it is so important, but it's part of the wider support that WIPO has provided the IP Training Institute, and the training that is being conducted there, and the actual strategy for a Carnival Museum.

This Carnival Museum is in the heart of the city of Port of Spain. It is developing, it's I would say burgeoning, and it will be a center for tourism and a flashpoint for diversification. The IP management strategy which would allow it to flex its muscles to be able to ring-fence the IP, to protect the artifacts, looking at preservation, also licensing, the availability of shops where now some of our works of Mas could possibly be sold, and the younger generation are learning about our Carnival from its history and its artifacts. The IP management strategy is critical for the Carnival Museum.

In fact, there was a brainstorming session recently held on June 29^th and 30^th of this year, 2023, and this brought together stakeholders throughout the Carnival industry. It complemented the work of the Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Museum in raising the level of understanding of IP rights and their relation to the Carnival industry as well as the Carnival Museum, in the branding, and exploring business opportunities and licensing models for designers, including harmonization of efforts in the digital area and addressing IP challenges, in particular copyright, which are faced by museums in the digital era.

The session further facilitated discussions with experts through interactive segments to drive a way forward for the Carnival Museum all underlined and underpinned by intellectual property.

WIPO's COVID-19 project for the Carnival Museum, you know, is really one of the success stories, while developing, where a country can take a particular area, grow it, and then take it to the world. The Carnival Museum envisages that when fully developed that it can actually be franchised and go out there, you know, have joint programs at other museums. Taking our culture in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean to the world, and have others learn from it, as we learn from others.

So one of the recommendations that came out of this session included hosting exhibitions to showcase works of Mas and designs of band leaders, promoting community outreach activities, highlighting the importance of the Carnival Museum, compiling audiovisual documentation of Carnival events throughout time to ensure preservation of our culture.

So, you know, there was once a famous victory "The Glory That Was Greece" in 1956, Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival back then. So being able to document these things for hundreds of years to come, for future Carnival practitioners. Know your history, know your art, and where you want to go. This is so important for us you know, who are involved in IP for the Carnival Museum, the national IP Training Center, the IP Office and the National Carnival Commission.

So a lot of this work is being hatched, developed, planned, managed through the IP management strategy supported by WIPO and its consultants in that respect. So it is going to show why IP plays the foremost creative and innovative role in protecting works, in how works can be disseminated, and also balancing between the needs of these practitioners, you know, different licensing models, revenue models. So a lot more people can benefit from our culture here, while of course, the central thing of protecting the IP of individuals so that their IP is not exploited without their consent. And therefore, that is why the licensing is so important.

We hope this Carnival project, and the Museum would foster the next generation of entrepreneurs, creators, and employers, etcetera.

Natalie Humsi: That would be so great, and I hope to visit the Carnival Museum one day. And if it becomes a franchise, that will be wonderful, I will try to visit all of them. So the linkages between IP and tourism are very clear in Carnival and the Carnival Museum example that you just gave. What should tourists keep in mind, when it comes to IP, the next time they visit Trinidad and Tobago, maybe for the next edition of the Carnival next year?

Regan Asgarali: Visit the Carnival Museum, on Charlotte Street, Port of Spain, the center of Carnival, and there's so much IP there that you could experience, get to see the artifacts, but also pay in particular attention to the fact that from the Carnival costumes to the audiovisual performances, to the music, the Soca and Calypso and Chutney, that really drives the Trinidad and Tobago festival, you know, IP underpins it.

Respect it. Don't buy, not that it exists anymore, but don't buy these bootleg CDs, encourage buying local, encourage downloading on Spotify and all these platforms, purchase the artifacts from our wire benders, our craftsmen, and women that really enrich the Carnival experience. And really just get into the festival. This is so important.

You know, I don't want to get to loyalty, but Trinidad and Tobago's trade policy 2019 to 2023 talks about sustainable economic growth and diversification, and Carnival is one of the premier aspects of that in the leisure tourism market. So it supports a robust agenda to build the export capability of leisure tourism, which encompasses the creative industries, as well as the entertainment services.

So when visiting Trinidad and Tobago during Carnival, Natalie, as tourists, as returning local nationals, etcetera. Tourists are encouraged to support our craftsmen, our creators, our designers, our entrepreneurs. Look at their work. Enjoy it. And respect the intellectual property associated with them and visit as I said the Carnival Museum, which is the piece of what I wanted to talk about.

Come to Trinidad and Tobago, the home of Carnival, as some call it, as we look to really take our Carnival out there, ring-fence it, grow it, and continue the work that we do, as part of regional and international carnivals together with others who are innovating in this space.

Natalie Humsi: That would be great, just to contribute to an authentic Carnival experience to support the local industries the right way while respecting IP. So thank you so much Regan, for all this information, which I'm certain has made our listeners think about all the interesting ways IP plays into Carnival. Thank you again. And most importantly, thank you to our curious listeners for tuning in, and we'll catch you all next time on Classroom Conversations.

Regan Asgarali: Yeah. And as we say in Trinidad and Tobago, enjoy the doubles, enjoy the Mas.