Combating piracy and the creative industries

ZIMBABWE is home to a rich and dynamic creative sector. Her creative industries stretch from the film industry and include activities ranging from music and publishing, to computer software and media broadcasting — each with enormous potential for growth.

Preliminary data indicate that while Zimbabwe’s copyright-based industries contribute to the GDP each year to the Zimbabwean economy, they have the potential to contribute more. If we are to fully realise the potential of our creative industries and if Zimbabweans are to reap the multiple benefits this promises, there is need to create an environment in which the rights of creators are respected — an environment with zero tolerance for piracy. The far-reaching consequences of piracy In spite of this enormous growth potential, widespread piracy is undermining the growth of Zimbabwe’s creative sector. Right owners who have invested enormous energy, time and money in producing sound recordings, films, books and computer programmes suffer huge losses in revenue.

As a consequence, creators of genuine copyright-protected products are discouraged from setting up their operations in the country. The Government loses muchneeded tax revenue to fund public services and the country as a whole loses out on its ability to attract foreign direct investment, and to harness opportunities for technology transfer. Causes of piracy The causes and motives for piracy are many and varied. In Zimbabwe, its prevalence is attributable to a number of significant contributory factors — the scarcity and high cost of genuine products, poverty, poor distribution networks, a slow judicial system, poor cooperation in some quarters of the creative sector and inadequate funding and lack of a regulatory agency.

These enduring problems are further compounded by the challenges posed by new digital technologies, which themselves create opportunity for illegal mass reproduction of copyright-protected works. Given the economic importance and growth potential of Zimbabwe’s copyright sector and in light of the far-reaching negative economic impacts of piracy, the Zimbabwean Government must adopt a policy of zero tolerance with regard to piracy.

It must set up a national copyright commission to regulate and enforce copyright, to put this policy into practice. Efficient enforcement of copyright is a critical element in enabling the future development of Zimbabwe’s creative industries.

The underlying objective is to minimise piracy levels in order to provide an environment conducive to the growth of legitimate copyright industries in Zimbabwe, an environment in which the rights of creators are respected.

Intellectual property is where the future of our country lies.

While domestic production of pirated works in Zimbabwe has increased significantly largely due to economic issues, there is an urgent need for a regulatory framework for registering and monitoring optical disc replicating plants — there is an international element to the high level of copyright piracy in Zimbabwe, with the influx of significant numbers of infringing works from Asian countries.

There is need for a campaign for collective action to tackle piracy on all fronts. The aim is to send a strong signal to piracy syndicates in Zimbabwe that it is no longer “business as usual”.

The broad-based campaign must seek to build a proactive, intelligence-based copyright enforcement and regulatory system by creating an expanding network of strategic partnerships and alliances with key stakeholders at home and abroad. These include private sector stakeholders, the right holder community and sister regulatory and enforcement agencies.

On the domestic front, the creators of copyright work’s close cooperation with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is critically important, especially in terms of ensuring the safety of unarmed Copyright Inspectors during anti-piracy raids across the country.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) also plays a key role in tracking down infringing goods at our borders, making it possible to identify and seize large consignments of imported, pirated works that would otherwise flood the market and undermine legitimate business interests. Joint anti-piracy operations also need to be carried out.

Partnerships with national and international rights groups and stakeholders such as the Zimbabwe Book Publishers’ Association, the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura), the Music Label Owners and Recording Industries, and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), as well as various private sector actors in the creative industries, including broadcasters, are critical in tackling piracy and can yield positive results. Review of legal framework In addition to taking hard-hitting practical measures, the Zimbabwean Copyright Law also needs to undergo a process of review to bring it into line with current international standards designed to mitigate the copyright challenges that digital technologies present.

Amendments must include provisions that will make it an offence to circumvent technological protection measures (TPMs) and to manufacture and distribute circumvention devices.

Similarly, any alteration of rights management information on a copyrightprotected work, or trafficking of such works with the knowledge that this information has been altered or removed, must be considered an offence. Provisions concerning the takedown of infringing materials by Internet service providers will also help address the issue of online piracy.

The review must include higher penalties as a deterrent to committing offences under the Act. For instance, the fine per copy of infringing material can be increased.

Similarly, serious offences under the Act must carry terms of imprisonment ranging from two to five years.

Such offences include making, causing to be made or being in possession of equipment for the purposes of making an infringing copy; as well as unauthorised distribution of works by way of rental, lease hire or similar arrangements.

Provisions relating to copyright infringement by corporations must also be reviewed. The aim is to give courts the authority to close down any corporation convicted of copyright infringement under the Act, and thereby discourage the involvement of organisations in piracy.

Beyond criminal provisions, the review of the Copyright Act must seek to improve rights management by providing for the registration of copyrighted works. The establishment of a national database of authors and right holders in Zimbabwe offers an additional means of combating piracy by making it easier to prove (or disprove) ownership of a copyright-protected work.

The proposed amendments seek to render copyright infringement unattractive to prospective infringers, further supporting the creation of a piracy-free environment and boosting the growth of legitimate creative businesses. Challenges Intellectual property (IP) has enormous potential in terms of promoting wealth creation, alleviating poverty, generating employment and boosting economic development in general.

While we recognise the blight that piracy inflicts on legitimate business and the need to tackle this scourge head on, low levels of IP awareness among key economic and political actors continue to inhibit progress in translating the promise of the nation’s creativity and innovative capacities — its IP — into concrete economic benefits.

We can ill afford not to invest in our creative industries. We need to create a piracy-free environment in order for our creative industries to flourish.