Flashplayer not found. Click here to download
|
Follow This is Africa @ |
||
  |
||
  |
||
  |
||
Artist image
| The copyright and counterfeit problem - Harare |
|
|
|
| Monday, 28 April 2008 | |
 Counterfeit DVDs (BBC image) The pirates (they prefer to be called “reproduction service providers”) operate from shopping centres or from home. They are able to provide the latest movies and CDs, local or international, at prices sometimes a dozen times cheaper than the legitimate copies found in traditional music and video shops. Adding insult to injury, the pirated material is often hits the market before the legitimate release. For example, “Blood Diamond” (the recent blockbuster about diamonds mined in African war zones, the sale of which finances conflicts), was available on the pirate market more than a month before the local cinema release. In the ghettos, piracy has become so serious that it is difficult to find a DVD and Video-renting service whose collection does not consist entirely of pirated material. Although the practice of reproducing copyright material without permission is Illegal, the law enforcement agencies have rarely been seen to enforce anything to stem the practise. The local police have a homicide section, a car-theft squad, a sex-crimes unit and a whole lot of other specific sections, but there is no section specifically dedicated to copyright enforcement. "That in itself says something," says DJ Squealer, an upcoming artiste with two albums to his name. "The authorities do not take the arts industry seriously."  Counterfeit CDs The local music industry has appealed repeatedly to the public, especially the young music-buying public, not to buy pirated stuff as the practice starves the hen that lays the golden egg. The message, however, appears to fall on deaf ears. Canvassing for opinions on the issue in Glen Norah, a ghetto 11km south of Harare’s CBD, one youngster’s response summed up the feelings of the buying public, “We are poor, yet we also want the good life, the good music, the movies, at affordable prices. Is that a crime?" History has it that when the late legendary Bob Marley was asked to comment on the massive piracy of his music, he replied something to the effect that he did not care because the message he sought to spread with his music was being spread further by piracy. In the end there was only one Bob Marley, the first Third World superstar. But can struggling young ghetto artistes afford such complacency? Tsungayi Hatitye, reporting for Ghetto radio Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
