Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
( L - R ) CAROL SIMPSON, NATALIE CORTHESY and MELANIE GRAHAM - PHOTOS BY IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
CAMPAIGNERS ARE developing a united front against Jamaica's piracy culture under the banner of the Jamaica Anti-Piracy Alliance (JAPA) but public awareness is still lagging, according to concerned parties represented at a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday.
They are complaining of an inability to compete with criminal copies, while at the same time the public shows little interest in the matter. Meanwhile, they say the Intellectual Rights Unit of the Organised Crime Division remains under-resourced. In fact, the unit was unable to send a representative to the forum given its stretched resources.
Palace Amusement Company Ltd., which is the sole distributor of movies in Jamaica, claims the situation has driven down profits by 30 per cent in the past eight months prompting the company to start a campaign offering free bumper stickers that read: "JA. say no to movie piracy."
Melanie Graham, marketing manager at Palace Amusement, admitted that the theatre company has had to acknowledge the reality of piracy in its business plans. "But it is the degree...it is unchecked!" she said.
Palace has even had to bring forward release dates to avoid the competition of the illegal DVDs imported from the United States.
Speaking for the music industry, Steve Golding, chairman of the Jamaica Associa-tion of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP), said only 50 per cent of radio stations are submitting play-lists to be checked for royalty dues.
Dianne Daley, of Foga Daley and Company, the local representative of the Business Software Alliance (BSA),
said some software sellers are selling illegal software and sometimes even giving it away for free.
MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN
JAPA, which comprises 20 organisations, will soon be mounting a major mass media campaign, while at the same time one JAPA member, the Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, is
currently developing a policy
document to streamline the response to the problem.
"The policy will strive to articulate a framework in which the entertainment industry can grow, thrive and be attractive to foreign and local investors," said Natalie Corthesy, Director of the Tourism Ministry's Entertainment Unit.
Participants at the forum acknowledged the effort of the police and, according to Carol Simpson, a lawyer from the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO): "It is heartening that since 2003 we had two or three cases before the court where we now have 20 to 30 cases before the court, mostly criminal, but also some civil." She said however that many Jamaicans remain reluctant to defend their intellectual rights in court.
Current intellectual property rights issues
The Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA) started a copyright campaign, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), against producers in other countries which sell their products as 'Jamaican'.
Local cable operators rebroadcast United States cable channels, without authorisation. The U.S. put Jamaica on a Special 301 Watch List as a result.
Bootlegging and pirating of CDs, movies and concerts is widespread in Jamaica.
