Levy on Technical Devices Fund – Botswana

Section 35G of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act provides for the establishment of the Levy on Technical Devices Fund (LTDF). The LTDF is established through Statutory Instrument (Fund Order) No. 94 of 2008. Section 4 of the Fund Order provides that the levy collected shall be used for the development of the authors, publishers of works and the copyright industries. In the context of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, author refers to the creator of a literary or artistic work. This includes photographer, writer, music composer, visual artist, etc, while publisher means anyone who makes a work available to third party i.e., producer, broadcaster etc.

Objectives

Projects proposed for funding under the LTDF, should be in line with objectives of the Fund which are to:

• Promote creation and production of literary and artistic works;
• Support enforcement of copyright and neighbouring rights;
• Support information dissemination on any matter that promotes creative industries;
• Support initiatives that enhance skills of rights holders;
• Promote production of quality literary and artistic works;
• Promote effectiveness of rights-holders’ organisations;
• Promote collaborations within the creative industries; and
• Support any other projects and programmes that promote the development and growth of the creative industries.

Grant Amount

• Minimum grant requested is P10, 000.00 and Maximum grant request is one million Pula (P1, 000, 000.00).
• Project Duration: Duration of projects does not exceed 36 months;

The following will not be funded through the LTDF

• Vehicles;
• Projects that are exclusively capacity building or travel;
• Second-hand equipment;
• Purchase of undeveloped pieces of land, whether or not intended activities are linked to the creative sector;
• Any other expenses as the Management Committee may determine shouldn’t be funded for reasons it may advance.

Eligibility Criteria

As per Rule 2 of the Policy for Eligibility for Funding under the LTDF, to be eligible for funding, an applicant must meet any one of the following criteria:

• Citizens of Botswana with a minimum age of 18 years (applicants below the age of 21, should submit a guardian’s consent);
• Businesses registered under the Business Names Registration Act that are 100% owned by Botswana citizens.
• Companies registered under the Companies Act with 100% citizen ownership, and the company must be up to date with its annual returns.
• Voluntary and self-governing organisations (e.g., foundations, association, charities, societies, trusts) registered in Botswana with 100% citizen members/Beneficiaries/Founders.

For more information, visit Companies and Intellectual Property Authority.