The MSME Council donated K5000 to the Lavagirl fashion label to assist with legal fees for a copyright infringement battle that has spanned the past four years.
From 2019, Lavagirl creative director, Annette Sete, gained much publicity with a copyright infringement case against Tropicana Ltd for the alleged theft of intellectual property of Lavagirl’s Tabu Wheel design. They were recently able to get this case through to trial stage.
MSME Council President, Desmond Yaninen, said that because of a lack of awareness surrounding copyright and protection of intellectual property, many MSMEs are prone to exploitation by larger organisations and companies.
“There needs to be greater awareness on how MSMEs can protect their intellectual property,” he said
This has brought to light the lack of a precedent in place, making Lavagirl’s case the first of its kind under the civil and criminal laws that govern protection of intellectual property in Papua New Guinea.
He also referred to the case of Annette Sete as being one of the most prominent cases, which makes it a crucial step for the MSME Council to support her in her fight against copyright infringement.
Vice President of the MSME Council, James Gore, also added that they are the voice of MSMEs in Papua New Guinea and are very grateful that they can be of assistance to Sete’s case.
As an appeal to other MSMEs, Gore encouraged others to stand up and be vocal about such issues so that appropriate authorities are moved to address these important cases affecting the majority of small business owners in the country.
Sete, who also owns the Maku Gift Shop, expressed that the jargon used in copyright law information is not easily understood by the vast majority of SMEs.
“It would be a success to take on the case and learn from it so other business owners are educated in this important area as well,” she added.
The Lavagirl label is also engaged in another similar battle with a fashion designer in Lae and has in the past settled other matters out of court, showing that this is an ongoing issue for local creatives.
Starting out, Sete did not imagine that level of support that she would receive, expressing that it has been overwhelming with hotels offering to accommodate her lawyers in Kokopo, businesses assisting with airline tickets, individuals making cash donations and paying for food, and many others who supported her.
“I also had a female SME owner who saw me in Vision City and just gave me K2000; I told her it was too much but she told me to just take it because she also buys from me and sews to sell.
“It’s come to a point where we cannot walk away because we want to have a precedent set so that other Papua New Guineans will use the case to fight their own battles when the time comes.”
Sete was very appreciative of the MSME Council’s support and grateful to be part of the fight against exploitation and copyright infringements on MSMEs.
As a business owner, she also encourages fellow business men and women to be passionate about their products and take it upon themselves to be aware of such laws and regulations.
