MUSIC composers and producers in the country says the lack of enforcement of the Copyright Act and related legislation is costing the industry and the Government $100million annually.
The Fiji Performing Rights Association said the figure, which was conservative, was derived from the sale of pirated DVDs and CDs each year.
Composers and producers say they are losing income from the illegal reproduction and sale of their intellectual property and this is affecting their decision to release new original music works.
Seru Serevi, a veteran musician who released a significant number of albums in the ’80s, said he had not released any new musical works in more than two decades because widespread piracy would allow unscrupulous operators to earn a financial windfall at his expense.
“It costs me thousands of dollars to put an album together and it will all amount to nothing because within minutes of the album being released, it will be copied and sold across the country without my consent or knowledge,” he said.
“People hear popular songs being played in buses, nightclubs or over the radio and they think these artists are living in good homes, eating good food and living the high life.
“The sad reality is many are struggling to put food on the table for their families, they live in very poor conditions and many don’t have money to give their children the kind of life they would want them to live.
“Meanwhile, the pirates who didn’t invest a single cent in the recording sell thousands of copies and live very comfortably at the expense of the poor owner of the music.
“This has got to stop.”
Fiji Performing Rights Association president Eremasi Tamanisau said the onus was on the authorities to enforce existing legislation.
“Conservatively, $100m with approximately a 7:1 ratio for DVDs to CDs is being lost annually to piracy,” he said.
“This figure includes both the tax loss to Government and the sales income loss to musicians.”
Mr Tamanisau said more awareness was needed so that the authorities responsible for policing the Copyright Act were better able to do their work.
“Another issue we have is that the current Copyright Act does not incorporate internet technology, in particular the transmission of copyright works via the internet.
“Therefore, there is a dire need to revise the Act.”
Fiji Police Force chief of Investigations and Intelligence ACP Henry Brown said the onus was on the public and artists to report breaches of the Act, and on movie and music shop outlets to follow the rules.
“We would like to call on members of the public to be responsible and not reproduce materials or work that is not legally theirs for the purpose of reselling for public consumers,” he said.
“This is against the law and those who are aware of such incidents taking place, we request that they lodge a report to us so we can conduct the necessary investigations.”
