Putting a dent in bootlegging

Anti-piracy organisation pleased with progress

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

The Jamaica Anti-Piracy Alliance (JAPA) has been trying to put a dent in the sale of pirated material for some time now. That effort bore some fruit on Friday when the organisation, along with the police, destroyed thousands of confiscated bootleg CDs and DVDs.

JAPA, which is a conglomeration of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP), Jamaica Copyright Licensing Association (JAMCOPY), Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS), the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Palace Amusement Company, Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture and the Business Software Alliance (BSA), met at the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) before heading to the Riverton City Dump where the pirated material would be destroyed.

Waiting at OCID were thousands of illegal CDs and DVDs, as well as bleaching products, toothbrushes, tissues, cases of shoe polish and socks.

Detective Inspector Carl Berry, staff officer for the division, said, "the exhibits are no longer of use to the courts and they can't be used in the wider population, so as a consequence it is necessary to have them destroyed in consistence with law. Space is always a premium in the JCF, so we need to have the products moved out so that new exhibits can be brought in."

public destruction

He said the discs were to be crushed and buried in accordance with the guidelines set by the dump and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

Philippa Davies, manager of the copyright and related rights directorate at JIPO and chairperson of the Sub-committee on Public Education for JAPA, explained that first and only public destruction of these types of bootlegged material was done in 2004.

On this occasion, she said it is being done because there is no space to store them at OCID.

"You have to wait until the cases have been heard. When the cases have been completed, you need to get rid of the evidence but you have to get rid of it properly to prevent it from getting back into the market," Davies told The Gleaner.

She said it was important to disseminate this information to the public because piracy is a big activity.

"Based on the number of CDs and DVDs, you can see that there are a lot of people involved," she said.

But those persons are earning at the expense of others who have invested their time and energy into creating their work.

"The genuine copyright owners are not getting back any of the money. That was money going into the pockets of thieves. This needs to be shown to the public that piracy affects legitimate creative persons and that the police, along with the local copyright owners, are putting a stop to this," Davies said.

Berry also said that the activities of JAPA had hurt the production of illegal copying and redistribution of copyrighted work.

"A significant start, but lots more needs to be done. Everyday you can see breaches, but the intellectual property unit here is bent on making sure that we get rid of it, or at least minimise it as much as possible. We have been successful enough, but we can't rest on our laurels, much more needs to be done," Berry explained.

More than 1.2 million CDs and 200,000 DVDs were scheduled for destruction. Berry said these were collected during a one-year period.

Chairman of JAPA and general manager of JAMCOPY, Carol Newman, explained that piracy also affects the economy.

"It robs us of the resources that would have come to our economy through legitimate means," she said.

piracy affects thousands

Newman also added that the pirated material sometimes leads to the legal ones not being sold. And not only does it affect the artistes and producers, it also affects other persons who earn a living through the process such as store owners, engineers, store clerks and graphic designers.

"There are thousands of persons behind the scenes who are depending on the legitimate sales. There are businesses who shut down because of this," Newman told The Gleaner.

She added that if the activity is not stopped, it might also threaten the literary industry by discouraging people from publishing their work.

Upcoming artiste Ricardo Suave was also present to show his support for the activity. He said bootlegging gravely affects the music industry.

"I am an artiste and this exercise concerns music works that have been pirated. I am not only representing the brand Ricardo Suave, I am also representing JACAP and I am a member of JARIA (Jamaica Reggae Industry Association)," he said.

"We need to sensitise the public about the negative effects of piracy and how it affects everybody. The Jamaican public is still not fully aware. They sell it (bootlegs) less than market value because dem don't have any overhead expenses, so they are killing the legitimate business. It is a crime and atrocity to the music business."