Never ending piracy war

Both musicians and Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) have admitted that although some notable success has been registered in the fight against piracy, the battle is far from being won.

This year, with the help of the new copyright law passed in Parliament two years ago, some convictions and fines have been meted out on penetrators. But the general feeling is that there is still need to explore other avenues to increase the take-home package of the rights holders.

One such intervention, which has raised hope among creatives in the country, is the introduction of a private copy levy which has been included in the new law to cushion the copyright-protected works from the piracy which take place within the privacy of people’s homes.

 Cosoma senior licensing officer Rosario Kamanga said in an interview they are almost done with the preparations to roll out the intervention expected to reduce the losses artists incur as a result of unchecked piracy.  

“Once collected, that levy will be distributed to the rights holders. We are almost done in terms of preparing to roll this out. Once this is rolled out, it should mean more money going to the rights holders,” he said.

Kamanga said the society has also introduced the Integrated Arts Development project which will seek to push for adequate legitimate copies on the market with the view of over coming the fake copies by increasing the financial capacity of artists to produce in large quantities.

He said: “If we are to deal with the problem we have to look at its causes first. One of the causes is the way the market is structured.

“This component will use the arts savings and cooperative savings which allow the artists to borrow money, thereby solidifying their capital base.”

He was quick to acknowledge that despite the efforts being invested in trying to bring the vice to a stop, technology has proved another bigger challenge.

Both musicians and Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) have admitted that although some notable success has been registered in the fight against piracy, the battle is far from being won.

This year, with the help of the new copyright law passed in Parliament two years ago, some convictions and fines have been meted out on perpetrators. But the general feeling is that there is still need to explore other avenues to increase the take-home package of the rights holders.

One such intervention, which has raised hope among creatives in the country, is the introduction of a private copy levy which has been included in the new law to cushion the copyright-protected works from the piracy which take place within the privacy of people’s homes.

Cosoma senior licensing officer Rosario Kamanga said in an interview they are almost done with the preparations to roll out the intervention expected to reduce the losses artists incur as a result of unchecked piracy.  

“Once collected, that levy will be distributed to the rights holders. We are almost done in terms of preparing to roll this out. Once this is rolled out, it should mean more money going to the rights holders,” he said.

 Kamanga said the society has also introduced the Integrated Arts Development project which will seek to push for adequate legitimate copies on the market with the view of over coming the fake copies by increasing the financial capacity of artists to produce in large quantities.

He said: “If we are to deal with the problem we have to look at its causes first. One of the causes is the way the market is structured.

“This component will use the arts savings and cooperative savings which allow the artists to borrow money, thereby solidifying their capital base.”

He was quick to acknowledge that despite the efforts being invested in trying to bring the vice to a stop, technology has proved another bigger challenge.

“Technology has to be looked at from two different perspectives. It is an opportunity in the sense that it allows mass distribution of protected works. It is also easy to reproduce and distribute the works illegally in a manner never thought of before,” he says.

Musician Diwa Khwiliro said it would have been ideal if the levies were extended to the importation of devices which carry music such as flash disks, modulators and phones.

He said: “Clearly,technology is ahead of us. We just have to show aggression in other openings that are present. Through such levies, we could create a consolidated arts fund which would then trickle down to us as artists.”

Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) president the Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango said piracy has reached a stage where it is hard to blame anyone. He, therefore, urged musicians to embrace the fight and play their role.

He also implored on government to give more resources to Cosoma and MUM for civic education for all relevant stakeholders, including the public as some indulge in piracy blindly despite the huge fines  one risks according to the new law. 

Said Mhango:“Musician shave to play a role just as the members of the general public. To help and create awareness that there is now an act in place that culprits which are caught will pay a lot or will be jailed for so many years.

“Some people are doing it blindly so if we pump in a lot of money for civic education, then a few years from now we should be talking of something better.”