Protecting Creative Legacy: IP Rights & Royalties

Creative work can hold a community’s history, cultural knowledge, and livelihood. Music, art, writing, performances, traditional knowledge, and community brands all carry value. Yet creators and rights holders may have difficulty understanding who owns a work, what agreements cover, how royalties are accounted for, or where to turn when questions arise.

The Haile Selassie Foundation for Law and Society (HSFFLS) is developing an Intellectual Property Rights and Royalties Recovery program to help Rastafari, African, Pan-African, and other culturally rich communities better understand, protect, manage, and realize the value of their creative work.

With donor support, HSFFLS plans to:

Create accessible education on copyright, ownership, licensing, attribution, royalties, and related rights.
Develop practical intake and inventory tools so creators, elders, performers, and rights holders can organize information about their work.
Help participants identify the records that may matter, such as agreements, registrations, releases, royalty statements, and payment histories.
Support a review of documentation connected to the Rastafari Elders album project involving Ras Records and BMI.

This work begins with listening, education, and careful review. Each situation must be assessed on its own facts and documents. The program does not assume that a person owns a particular work or is entitled to royalties, and it cannot guarantee a recovery. Any formal legal representation or contact with a third party would require appropriate authorization, review, and qualified counsel.

Your contribution will help HSFFLS build the educational materials, intake tools, research capacity, and community outreach needed to begin this work responsibly. A gift of any size helps strengthen creators’ ability to understand their rights and make informed decisions about their creative legacy.

Please give if you can, and share this campaign with others who believe creators and communities should be treated fairly and their contributions respected. Thank you for helping protect creative legacy.

Protecting Creative Legacy - IP Rights & Royalties

Help Rastafari, African, Pan-African, and other culturally rich communities understand, protect, and benefit from their creative work.

Team Members