Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) officials recently engaged Malawi Police Service personnel in Lilongwe with the aim of strengthening the enforcement of provisions of the Copyright Act of 2016.
Cosoma’s meeting with Malawi Police Service officers came barely two weeks after the copyright body also engaged Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services officials on issues pertaining to compliance.
The copyright body’s spokesperson Catherine Mitungwi Chiumia described the meeting as fruitful.
Mitungwi said those at the meeting acknowledged that while the Malawi Police Service is constitutionally mandated to enforce laws, including copyright legislation, many officers face challenges in effectively enforcing provisions of the Copyright Act due to limited knowledge.
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“This gap has, over time, affected efforts to cub copyright infringement and related offenses. We, as Cosoma, will work with the Malawi Police Service and establish a collaborative training framework that will institutionalise copyright enforcement training within the Malawi Police Service,” Chiumia said.
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She said the proposed framework would focus on building the capacity of police officers through structured training programmes, practical enforcement guidelines and continuous knowledge-sharing initiatives.
“This approach is expected to improve investigations, enhance prosecutions of copyright-related offences and strengthen coordination between Cosoma and law enforcement officers nationwide,” Chiumia said.
She said the institutions had committed to formalise the partnership and roll out capacity-building programmes
