A routine anti-piracy operation on Kampala’s Nasser Road last week reignited a debate that stretches far beyond counterfeit books and illegal photocopying. It exposed a deeply rooted misconception that continues to undermine Uganda’s creative economy: the belief that paying for access to creative content is the same as owning the right to reproduce and profit from it.
During the operation, the Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation (URRO), working with enforcement agencies, confiscated counterfeit Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) examination booklets that were being illegally reproduced and sold.
Yet it was the reaction that followed that revealed an even bigger problem.
At Nkrumah Road Police Station, supporters of one of the suspects argued that because parents had already paid UNEB examination fees, reproducing and selling the examination materials should not be considered illegal. In their view, payment for the examination automatically granted the right to commercially reproduce the materials.
That reasoning may appear isolated, but it reflects a misunderstanding that has quietly become widespread across Uganda.
Many people fail to distinguish between purchasing a product and acquiring the intellectual property rights attached to it. Buying a book does not give someone permission to photocopy it for resale. Purchasing music does not authorise duplicating it onto flash drives for commercial gain. Paying examination fees does not entitle anyone to reproduce and distribute protected materials.
This misunderstanding has fuelled one of Uganda’s largest informal industries.
A culture that has normalised piracy
For decades, piracy has quietly embedded itself into everyday life.
Across Kampala, photocopy shops reproduce entire textbooks. Vendors openly sell memory cards loaded with music. Movies are copied and distributed without permission from copyright holders. Online, copyrighted books circulate as PDF files on WhatsApp groups, films appear on Telegram channels within hours of release, and music is endlessly shared without the consent of its creators.
More worrying is that many people no longer view these practices as illegal.
Instead, piracy has become an accepted shortcut to cheaper entertainment and educational materials.
According to estimates by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), piracy was costing Uganda’s creative industry about Shs360 billion annually as early as 2018. With rapid advances in digital technology, industry players believe those losses have grown substantially.
Every pirated book, song, film or examination booklet deprives creators of income they have rightfully earned.
Beyond artistes: The hidden cost of copyright theft
Piracy is often portrayed as a problem affecting musicians and filmmakers. Its impact, however, extends much further.
A pirated song denies revenue to producers, songwriters, recording engineers, session musicians and investors. An illegally reproduced textbook affects authors, editors, publishers, printers, graphic designers and booksellers. A pirated film harms actors, directors, costume designers, cinematographers, distributors and production companies.
Every act of infringement weakens investment, destroys jobs and discourages creativity.
Countries with thriving creative economies succeed not because they have more talented artists, but because their legal and commercial systems reward innovation. Investors finance films because they expect to recover their investment. Publishers commission books because legitimate sales generate income. Musicians spend months creating albums because copyright allows them to earn royalties.
Copyright protection is therefore not merely a legal issue; it is an economic necessity.
Piracy is no longer confined to street vendors
Today’s piracy extends well beyond roadside vendors.
Hotels, bars, restaurants, salons, gyms and entertainment venues routinely play copyrighted music without obtaining the licences required under Uganda’s Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act. Long-distance buses screen films throughout overnight journeys, often using unauthorised copies. Numerous businesses continue to rely on pirated software while competitors who purchase legitimate licences incur higher operating costs.
Educational institutions are equally implicated.
Many schools, colleges and universities reproduce textbooks, journals and examination materials on a large scale without permission from copyright owners.
Ironically, institutions responsible for teaching respect for the law are sometimes among its biggest violators.
Charles Batambuze the Executive Director URRO
Licensing offers practical solution
Compliance does not require purchasing every individual creative work outright.
Licensing provides a practical solution, allowing users to reproduce or commercially use protected works while ensuring creators receive fair compensation.
Uganda’s Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) exist to simplify that process.
The Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation (URRO) manages literary and educational works, the Uganda Performing Rights Society (UPRS) licenses musical works, while the Uganda Federation of Movie Industry (UFMI) oversees audiovisual rights.
Instead of negotiating with thousands of individual creators, businesses can obtain licences through these organisations, ensuring legal compliance while supporting the industries that create value.
However, responsibility also lies with creators themselves.
Many Ugandan authors, musicians and filmmakers have not registered with their respective CMOs, denying themselves opportunities to earn royalties collected both locally and internationally through reciprocal agreements with foreign collecting societies.
Industry experts estimate that significant amounts of royalty revenue remain undistributed each year because rights holders have not identified themselves or joined collective management systems.
Greater participation strengthens CMOs, improves licensing systems and ultimately increases earnings for creators.
Respect for creativity
Uganda’s ambitions under the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) identify culture and the creative industries as important drivers of economic transformation.
But that ambition cannot be realised if infringement remains an accepted business model.
The recently strengthened Copyright and Neighbouring Rights framework provides stronger enforcement mechanisms than ever before. Yet legislation alone cannot dismantle a culture that has tolerated piracy for decades.
Success will require sustained public education, stronger collective management organisations, greater compliance by businesses and a national shift in attitudes towards intellectual property.
Ultimately, the debate is about more than copyright law.
It is about whether Uganda values the labour, investment and innovation behind every book, song, film and creative work.
A country cannot aspire to build a knowledge economy while treating knowledge as free. Nor can it grow a competitive creative industry while allowing piracy to flourish unchecked.
Every pirated song, every illegally reproduced textbook and every unauthorised film screening sends the same message to creators—that their work has value, but they should not expect to be paid for it.
That is a message no creative economy can afford to sustain.
Don’t want to miss out on any story? For updates on all Sqoop stories, follow this link on Telegram: https://t.me/Sqoop and Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel