Author: TSA Press

In late May, Swiss national Richard Le Vieux, who ran a successful coffee, avocado and macadamia nut export business for three decades, appeared in court in the Chipinge district, charged with refusing to vacate part of his Farfell coffee estate.

Under former President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe enacted laws to allow black people to claim farms owned by whites. However, Mr Mugabe was ousted in 2017, and his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to end evictions and compensate affected farmers, as part of his drive to attract investors with the promise that “Zimbabwe is open for business”.

Eighteen months has passed since the coup that unseated Mr Mugabe took place, and Zimbabwe’s efforts to re-invent itself appear to be coming unstuck. The arrest of Mr Le Vieux comes at the worst possible time for the country.

“This absolutely makes me angry,” says Vince Musewe, an economist at Manicaland Capital Partners in eastern Zimbabwe. “I am busy trying to promote investment and this happens. And of course, it increases perceived country risk.”

This year, Zimbabwe has seen its worst maize harvest in a decade, leaving up to 5 million people facing hunger. A devastating cyclone plunged large swathes of land underwater in the eastern part of the country in March. Before that, a drought had delayed crop planting.

At the same time, many of the once-thriving commercial farms are under-utilised, occupied by subsistence farmers who struggle to produce commercial quantities of crops for resale. As part of Zimbabwe’s attempt to revive its agricultural sector, the government pledged to pay reparations to evicted white farmers, those in financial straits and the elderly, to help them get back on their feet.

The government estimates it will pay out $3 billion, although the Commercial Farmers Union puts the figure at closer to $10bn. The two sides are still negotiating the final number.

Payment to those in financial difficulty has also begun, finance minister Mthuli Ncube said in a statement last week, with 737 farmers registered.

However, as the warrant issued against Mr Le Vieux indicates, not everyone in the Zimbabwean ruling elite is on board with reversing the Mugabe-era land policy.

World Farming Organisation president Theo de Jager says even compensation payouts are facing opposition within the ruling ZanuPF party.

“White farmers who were expropriated without compensation in Zimbabwe have high hopes to receive the first interim compensation this week, but apparently some government officials are still trying to block it,” he said.

Making peace with the farmers is not only about bringing stability to agriculture – it is also about ending targeted sanctions on the country. Currently, the US in particular maintains a list of senior government officials that cannot do business – or travel to – the US.

Targeted sanctions were introduced in the early 2000s, when Grace Mugabe notoriously would regularly commandeer aircraft from the state airline, Air Zimbabwe, to jet off to London and go for marathon shopping sprees at Harrods.

The Mugabes were barred from the US and Europe, as were senior Zanu PF officials. Among them was Mr Mnangagwa himself. In the years since, Zanu PF leaders have used the sanctions to muddy debate, blaming them for the country’s poor financial health.

At the same time, the US has enacted a piece of legislation to financially support a democratic government in the country, The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zdera). This has yet to take effect, according to the US embassy in Harare.

“Only 140 out of 16 million Zimbabweans are on the targeted sanctions list,” US ambassador Brian Nichols said via the official US Harare embassy Twitter account. “Zdera has never been enacted, but if the government delivers on the reforms it committed to, Zimbabwe will meet the requirements of Zdera.”

The raising of sanctions has therefore become something of a rallying cry for Zanu PF supporters over the years.

Mr Mnangagwa may have hoped lifting them following the end of farm land grabs would have cemented his shaky authority over the party, and served as an easy public relations win for his administration.

Mr Mnangagwa himself has pushed this line. “Our economy was greatly affected by the sanctions imposed on us nearly now close to 18 years,” he said in Harare last week, quoted in state media. “Under the new dispensation, we have said with or without sanctions, we must focus on developing our economy.”

The offer to compensate farmers in spite of the country’s dire financial position may be a sign of just how desperate Mr Mnangagwa is to do just that, analysts say.

In the meantime, Zimbabwe must now contend with food shortages and a restive population. In a touch of irony, some of the emergency food imports it needs will likely come from ex-Zimbabwean farmers now settled in neighbouring countries such as Mozambique and Zambia.

By some estimates, nearly half of commercial farmers in Zambia are Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe has made efforts to lure them back, offering 99-year leases and making promises of low-interest loans.

However, even if they wanted to return, they would struggle to rebuild in a fluid environment where money is in short supply. Banks continue to ration how much depositors can withdraw. The primary currency since 2009 has been the US dollar, which of course Zimbabwe cannot print. Instead, it relies on export earnings to bring dollars into its system.

Now, with the arrest of Mr Le Vieux, selling the return narrative will be even more difficult. The issue has clearly alarmed the Zimbabwean government, and state media reports that the matter is “being discussed at the highest level”.

Still, it does show that Mr Mnangagwa’s authority is not guaranteed. Many of Mr Mugabe’s supporters want the remaining white farmers to be evicted. Mr Mugabe, his family and inner circle benefited directly from the evictions. The Mugabes took personal possession of farmland, with some reports saying they owned as many as 21 at the time of his removal from office.

In May, debt collectors said they would soon auction off equipment on the Mugabes’ farms to pay off debt. Trucks, tractors and harvesters will go under the hammer, while the farms themselves will likely end up owned by the state.

It now remains to be seen whether Mr Mnangagwa can overcome sceptism that his administration can undo years of misrule and return the agricultural sector to prosperity. He was after all a central figure in the Mugabe administration since it was formed in 1980.

Zimbabwean analyst Hopewell Chin’ono says it is easily forgotten that Mr Mnangagwa was part of the cabinet that crafted the country’s land reform programme.

“Someone once told me that Zimbabweans were silly to believe that Robert Mugabe was authoring Zimbabwe’s miseries alone,” he says. “It is now self-evident that he was only the face of the script, and that the authors are the ones who are now in charge. His removal has changed little.”

Reports Tuesday also indicated government through the National Joint Negotiating Council had invited civil servants representatives to a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 5th.

Among issues to be discussed at the meeting according to the invite seen by New Zimbabwe.com are “a cost of living adjustment and sector-specific allowances.”

While there were also claims of a possible salary adjustment immediately, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, told a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday that government has not set aside any money for the purposes of giving a cushion allowance to its employees.

“Government has not set aside RTGS$500 million to cushion civil servants. We would have to enter first a proper process which we always do before reaching any figure.

“But let me say this, government is always sensitive to the plight of civil servants and we can review from time to time within our means and within our coffers. But currently we have not set aside RTGS$500 million,” said Ncube.

“That remains a rumour, a wrong rumour as well.”

In April government gave its workers a 22% salary adjustment that reportedly translated to just around RTGS$50. This was however immediately wiped out by rampaging inflation with unions dismissing it as unsustainable.

Media reports claim there are plans for nationwide protests over the deteriorating economic situation with security on high alert.

A 150% fuel price increase in January triggered violent protests that left 17 people dead and scores injured.

The opposition MDC has indicated it is planning to protests against government failure to deal with the country economic crisis. Prices of basic commodities continue to increase fueled by the sharp decrease in the value of the local currency and a parallel market rate that has spiraled out of control.

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has already embarked on a go-slow while nurses last week gave government a 14-day notice for industrial action.

On the other hand teachers remain unhappy and “consulting” on the course of action to take. Ncube has appealed for patience and understanding while President Emmerson Mnangagwa is convinced his reform agenda that has received the blessing of international multi-lateral institutions is on course.

Speculation has been rife that government is planning to cushion its workers further. The Civil Service Commission a few months ago revealed it would consider a further cushion to all government workers mid-year.

Post published in: Business

The facts of the case are pretty simple. DynaStudy created a number of study guides. These guides were apparently particularly helpful, so the principal of a Houston high school purchased some, made copies, then distributed them to students. The study guides included an express statement on the bottom, “Copying this material is strictly prohibited.” A teacher pointed this statement out to the principal, who brushed off the concerns and the teacher replied via email, “I’m ok with violating it though . . . lol.” Additional emails were also included in evidence in the litigation. In some cases, employees cropped out or covered up DynaStudy’s logo and the copyright warnings, then distributed these copies throughout the district. Some copies ended up far beyond the Houston school district, and the guide was found publicly posted online in states as far as New Jersey.

This case is a pretty egregious case of copyright infringement, with administrators and educators either completely ignorant of copyright law or aware and content to ignore the ramifications. Neither willful blindness nor blatant disregard for copyright law go over well in copyright cases.

Let’s start with the teacher’s emailed response. Of course that email was going to end up in discovery. A jury is not going to look favorably on a blatant admission that someone is “ok with violating” copyright. Additionally, the fact that teachers removed DynaStudy’s logo and cropped out or covered up the copyright statement seems to indicate that they were reproducing and distributing the works with full knowledge that they were likely violating copyright law.

Goodbye innocent infringement defense, hello statutory damages. Remember that the Copyright Act requires a court to remit statutory damages where an employee of a nonprofit educational institution — like a high school — acting in the scope of his employment, believed that his reproduction of copyrighted works was fair use. Clearly not the case here, and the final jury verdict awarding DynaStudy $9.2 million confirmed that blatant disregard for copyright results in major damages.

Attorneys representing the Houston school district tried to assert that the staffers were unaware that they were violating copyright. Again, clearly not the case given the email exchanges DynaStudy used to bolster their claims.

The attorneys also tried to claim that the reproduction and distribution constituted fair use. Any regular readers of this weekly column will know that I’m a huge fan of fair use. I believe that robust use of the fair use right is critical in ensuring balance in the U.S. copyright system, particularly as we generally see a one-way ratchet in increasing the rights of rightholders, not users. But this case is clearly not a fair use case.

Sometimes, people mistakenly think that any educational use will be considered a fair use. This idea is a myth. While the fair use statute, codified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act, does note that a valid fair use purpose could include “teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use)” and the first factor notes that one consideration is “whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes,” courts must still apply the four factors to determine whether that particular use is fair. Not all educational uses are fair uses, otherwise textbooks wouldn’t cost so much. If all education uses were fair, a teacher could purchase one copy of a biology textbook at $120 and make 90 copies for each of his freshman biology students.

Applying the four factors, it is clear that the Houston school district’s use falls short. While the purpose and character of the use could favor the school district, the third factor (the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the whole) would weight against the use. The school district basically copied the other entire guide, rather than excerpting a small portion. They used the entire guide — except where they removed DynaStudy’s logo and copyright warning — and did nothing to adapt or transform the work. The fourth factor — the effect of the use on the potential market — also clearly weighs against the use because the proliferation of copies and distribution to students meant that neither the school district nor the students (or parents of the students) were purchasing these guides from DynaStudy. I certainly remember purchasing similar laminated study guides when I was a high school student for chemistry, calculus, Spanish, and other courses. Would I have spent my hard-earned money on these guides if I had been given copies for free by my school? Probably not. I would’ve used that money to go to the movies or have smoothies with my friends.

Following the verdict, the school district issued a statement noting that all of its employees would participate in online copyright training each year. Principals will receive additional training. This copyright training is clearly needed, to avoid any assumptions that all education uses are fair uses or that simply removing a copyright statement renders that work free from copyright. Of course, good copyright training should also make teachers aware of their fair use rights (I hope this $9.2 million verdict won’t forever scare away teachers in the school district from exercising legitimate fair uses); this case is simply an example of what is not fair use.

Krista L. Cox is a policy attorney who has spent her career working for non-profit organizations and associations. She has expertise in copyright, patent, and intellectual property enforcement law, as well as international trade. She currently works for a non-profit member association advocating for balanced copyright. You can reach her at kristay@gmail.com.

For most of Mubwandarika’s 35-year teaching career, the salary was good – enough to cover all the basic expenses, and more.

“I didn’t even look at the price tag when buying,” he says.

But as Zimbabwe’s economy sputters and the government adapts its currency model to try and revive it, Mubwandarika says he now struggles to meet his family’s basic needs.

In response to a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe policy enacted in October 2018, banks converted all money in customer accounts to RTGS units. Until then, U.S. dollars were the most commonly used form of currency. RTGS is a common term in international banking that stands for real-time gross settlement. But in Zimbabwe, it’s now the name of a pseudo-currency that effectively functions as a new Zimbabwean dollar.

An RTGS unit, locally known as a dollar, trades at roughly 5.07 to 7.1 to the U.S. dollar. But when the government denominated electronic banking transactions into RTGS, the numbers stayed the same, even though the value did not. One RTGS dollar was deemed equivalent to one U.S. dollar. Yet, salaries haven’t increased, and ordinary Zimbabweans are left to make do with incomes that are a fraction of what they earned before the abrupt October 2018 change.

And the RTGS dollars only exist electronically. As physical currency, they can be withdrawn in the form of bond notes, which have yet another rate of exchange with the U.S. dollar.

Global Press Journal reporters covered the story and noted the change’s immediate and devastating impact. Many Zimbabweans were confused by the change, and some panicked when they realized that their bank balances had been seriously devalued.

Now, months later, no one can ignore the fact that a huge portion of the money they might have saved is gone, and that any payment made electronically is worth a fraction of what it should be.

Global Press Journal reporters sought an interview with the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe but did not receive a response.

Mubwandarika says he takes home just 200 RTGS dollars. The value of RTGS currency changes constantly, but in mid-May, that was valued at $40. Before October, Mubwandarika took home $200 in U.S. dollars.

His rent alone is 150 RTGS dollars (about $18), he says.

“I have been borrowing to survive and I cannot borrow anymore,” he says. “The situation is really bad for most civil servants and the bulk of people living in Zimbabwe.”

Raymond Majongwe, the secretary general for the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, says the government has abandoned civil servants by not ensuring they are paid at a level that matches the U.S. dollars agreed upon in their contracts.

“The government is not taking care of its employees,” he says.

Inflation has pushed prices of basic goods way up, far beyond what they cost even before the government’s switch to RTGS currency.

By spring of this year, the basket filled with basic goods meant to indicate the monthly needs of an average family cost 781 RTGS dollars (about $95), Rosemary Siyachitema, executive director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, told GPJ.

Many families can’t afford the basics, she says. Even retailers are forced to exchange RTGS dollars for foreign currency on the black market to stock their shelves.

Prices have gone up gradually in recent years, Siyachitema says, but there was a serious spike in 2017 during a spate of extreme inflation, then again in October with the shift to RTGS dollars. Even with those price hikes, she says, salaries haven’t increased.

Savings accounts have taken a serious hit. Denford Mutashu, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers, said in a written statement to Global Press Journal that pensions were all but wiped out with the shift to RTGS dollars. Now, with little disposable income and paltry savings at best, he wrote, many Zimbabweans can’t afford to meet their own day-to-day needs.

Mubwandarika, the schoolteacher, says the situation for ordinary Zimbabweans is desperate. That’s made worse, he says, in light of Zimbabwe’s potential.

“Our county is rich in resources,” he says. “If those could be channelled towards making our lives better, that would be helpful.”

Post published in: Business

The New York Law Journal, an ALM property, has been publishing daily coverage of important news about the legal profession in the Empire State for more than 130 years. The paper has been tweeting its coverage since July 2011, but all of that came to a grinding halt sometime yesterday when Twitter decided it was time to give the NYLJ the boot.

Jay Kirsh, president of Media for ALM, was pretty confused about the situation:

(@associatesmind is better known as Keith Lee, one of our former columnists.)

If you try to access the @NYLawJournal’s account on Twitter, this is what you’ll see:

Twitter: where neo-Nazis are welcome, but law journals are persona non grata.

At this point, the New York Law Journal has been suspended from Twitter for more than 24 hours without any justification. In the era of so-called fake news, with real legal news being constantly churned out from one of the most active jurisdictions in the country, it’s critical that the New York Law Journal’s account be reinstated.

Do the right thing, Twitter, and do it now. This is absurd.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

During Mugabe’s four-decade rule until 2017, he would routinely blame European “colonialists” for Zimbabwe’s problems, and snarled at EU and U.S. sanctions for rights and vote abuses.

The EU has only kept sanctions on Mugabe, his wife and the state arms manufacturer, but is yet to resume direct funding to the new government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, preferring to channel money through local charities and U.N. agencies.

With the economy afflicted by dollar shortages, fuel queues, power-cuts, and soaring prices, Mnangagwa has said restoring ties with the West and multilateral lenders like International Monetary Fund is one of his major priorities.

At the start of the open-ended talks between diplomats and officials in Harare, EU Zimbabwe delegation head Timo Olkkonen said they would discuss issues including economic development, trade, investment, rights, rule of law and good governance.

The government has already signed up to an IMF monitoring programme where it has committed to political and economic reforms in a bid to set a track record of fiscal discipline that could earn it debt forgiveness and future financing.

At a separate event in a Harare hotel, Mnangagwa signed a new bill creating a tripartite negotiating forum intended to bring labour, business and government together to shape policy.

The 76-year-old leader is under pressure to deliver on pre-election promises and wants to avert a repeat of violent protests over a steep fuel price hike in January.

Later on Wednesday, the government is expected to start wage negotiations with public sector unions, who say a pay rise of up to 29% they received in April had already been eroded by inflation, now at a 10-year high of 75.86 %.

Mnangagwa has promised to break with his predecessor and says his “open for business” mantra will woo foreign investors. But critics say under his rule the economy shows no signs of improving while security forces have continued to crush dissent.

Post published in: Business

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