Music pirates killing TT culture

Once upon a time, a calypsonian or soca artiste would produce about 30,000 copies of record albums. They are now producing as few as 200 to 300 CDs/records. The market has shrunk because of the advent of music pirates who are selling copies cheaply to the public. As a result, several music producers have taken a stand not to put the financial backing to produce the music this year. Rather, the artiste must come up with the majority of the money needed to produce a CD/album, either individually or via a financier, since it is too costly for the producers to put up the money. Most of them reported an all time low return on investment for the local artiste. Instead, they will place more focus on producing compilations (one song per artiste), since this is a less costly venture. Earl Crosby of Crosby’s Music Centre in St James said normally, it would cost a soca artiste or calypsonian $6,000 to produce one song. Multiply that by 12 for an entire CD and that’s about $72,000. In all, a soca artiste/calypsonian has to put out as much as $100,000, which, in the past, would have been provided by the producer, who eventually made his money from the sale of the artiste’s albums. Producers hope for the sale of as many as 2,000 copies in order to make the profit.

“But that only happens now if the album is really good or the artiste has a great hit for the year. With music pirates on the scene, it is very difficult to do this now,” said Crosby. With several music pirates on the streets of Port-of-Spain, Chaguanas and San Fernando, the art of calypso and soca, is slowly dying, as artistes see no future or profit in producing work. General Secretary of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO), calypsonian, Brother Resistance, said: “It is a crime that is killing the industry and we are calling on the police authorities to get more serious.” He said sales have dropped to an all-time low and this is no encouragement for upcoming, younger calypsonians who have a desire to enter the industry. Alvin Daniell, director of Major and Minor Productions Limited, agrees. Daniell said because of the low returns for executive producers acting for artistes, he decided to concentrate his energies on producing a pan music compilation. “We have not been able to recover the returns of the investments to produce individual pan tunes. But because of the high demand from local artistes, we have decided to produce them only if they can put up at least 80 percent of the cost.”

Daniell said music pirates have hurt the soca and calypso industry not only locally but internationally as well. This is the result of individuals being able to purchase two pirated CDs for US$5, in comparison to the price of the original CD which is US$12. “We cannot compete with that and we find this very distressing. When the pirates do that, the artiste gets nothing,” he said. Daniell is calling on Government to enforce the current laws against music pirates. “We have legislation, it should be enforced,” he said. He said the public needs to know the harm they are doing to the local music industry when they support the pirates who are not being honest and breaking the law. Another producer stated that while some producers are against music piracy, others are the biggest pirates in the industry. One source disclosed that a lot of the piracy is taking place up the islands and distributed in bulk. Some of the music vendors on the streets are also said to be involved in the burning of CDs and copying of tapes. The source told Sunday Newsday that one music distributor imports as many as two million CDs per month and they come in several containers over a period of time. “Who purchases all of these CDs so quickly?” the source asked. Kenny Phillip, producer at KMP’s, is calling on the police to become more serious about this crime, and insists that it is up to them to “get the pirates off the streets.”

‘Give us a licence’ pirates say

A few weeks ago, men selling pirated copies of music could be found at almost every street corner. The CDs and tapes were sold at less than half the price of the original copy. Since the crackdown by cops and COTT, the street pirates have suggested that Government formulate a licence for them, in order to turn their livelihood into a legal trade. “Trinis like cheap things, we cannot get away from that. We only trying to make an honest living,” said one pirate. As word spread that police were on the heels of the pirates around downtown Port-of-Spain earlier last week, no music carts could be found. Eventually, a few took a chance and were found in nooks  and crannies along Independence Square, still wary and on the lookout for police. Told that what they did for a living was hurting the local industry and soca and calypso artistes, this is what one music pirate had to say. “The music industry dead already. You can get anything for free on the Internet, so we are trying to still make something out of what we could get,” he said.

A very avid talker, one was eager to tell his story, saying he had been surviving on the sale of pirated music since he was a teenager, after leaving secondary school. On an average, street pirates can make between $50 to $100 a day and over $100 if sales are really good. Roger (not his real name) said some of the pirates sell independently but told Sunday Newsday that others sell for a “boss” or a “big man.” “Me, I sell for myself, I am not selling for anybody else,” he said. He said he had friends who were arrested and were charged, but so far, he has been lucky. “They cannot stop us. They could try to stop us, but we will always have our material and we will always sell,” said another. One pirate said as a matter of fact, a few of the new calypsonains who could not get their music played on the air, came to them to help them sell their CDs or tapes at street corners. The pirates feel that instead of chasing them off the streets, Government should work with them to make the industry legal and viable.

Police issue stern warning against music pirates

Acting Commissioner, Community Relations, Winston Cooper, has sent a stern warning to music pirates that what they do is against the law and they will be dealt with accordingly. Cooper promised stronger measures against those behind music pirates. “Police have always paid attention to breaches of the copyright law and will continue to do so,” he said. However, he called on the public for support, pointing out that they cannot catch the “big boys” without information.

He indicated that in order for music pushers to be on the streets, there must be supplier. “So, where are they getting these supplies, that is what we need to know?” he said. Cooper said the music piracy industry is big business and is illegal. “They are very much aware that they are robbing another person of a legitimate career,” he said. Former Attorney General, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, said in the past when he had to deal with the issues the police had expressed grave difficulties in monitoring music piracy because there were very little resources for them to work with. He is calling on Government, to ensure that proper mechanisms in the areas of investigations, prosecution and legal adminsitrative structures are put in place to help police in their goal to crackdown on music piracy.

Gov’t not serious about culture says entertainment group

Rubidary Victor, a spokesperson for the group, Entertainment Industry Coalition, said government needs to be more serious about culture in TT if it doesn’t want the industry to be destroyed by music pirates. Victor referred to drafted legislation some years ago, which would have stipulated that 50 percent of local music be played on radio stations and the other half to be broadcast on local and Caribbean television. However, he said the draft was withdrawn and never passed in the Lower House. The Coalition has since been lobbying for such a law, pointing out that this is one sure way they can survive. He noted that currently, only about five percent of airtime is given to TT musicians and artistes who also collect very little on royalties. “Government is unwilling to deal with the issues seriously but we understand that piracy is really hard to deal with it,” Victor lamented.
He called on the wider community not to support the music pirates, since they are hurting their own national treasure. “A lot of times we know who the large pirates are and people should give police the information,” he said. Victor said one of the ideas the group had suggested to improve the piracy situation was the ability for the customer to go to the music store instead of the music pirates on the street, where they can get the same music they want burnt onto a CD from which a percentage of the payment goes directly to the artiste.

As part of another suggestion, he said government should try to include the distributing pirates into the fold and work towards the development of the industry, rather than face conviction for the crime. “We can either, bring them into the fold and have them work for us, and if they refuse, have them face the penalty for the crime,” he said. He said in the absence of any measures to curb the piracy scourge, the police have to continue their moves on the pirates, since they are operating like “big drug lords.” Victor noted that there were over 300 ‘TT-type’ Carnivals across the world and this could only have happened because of piracy. He called on government and the national community to understand the value of local culture, adding that if we realise we have only one like it in the world, then we must ensure it is protected it from the pirates. “Our artistes spend thousands of dollars to produce their music and their talent is ... we need to understand this before we go to support the pirates who have no respect for intellectual property and do not understand the value of our culture,” he said.

Gov’t concerned says Junior Culture Minister

Describing the level of music piracy in TT as “sad and unfortunate,” Junior Culture Minister, Eddie Hart, said government will be working towards enforcing some form of mechanism to deal with the problem. “We don’t know yet what mechanisms we can put in place, but we are very concerned about the piracy issue since our local artistes are the ones who were suffering in the end,” he said. Hart said before anything can be done, however, the relevant authorities have to get to the bottom of everything, calling on the police to do everything in their power in this regard. “I congratulate the police on the step they made the other day when they arrested one of the music pirates and I hope they continue their relentless effort to weed out the problem,” he said. Hart disclosed that the issue was discussed at a recent caucus, saying that the general sentiment among politicians was that it was a “sad situation” that will be dealt with in the near future. Legal Affairs Minister, Danny Montano has declared that music piracy is “clearly wrong” and that government will be taking a serious look into the matter.

COTT going after music pirates — ‘WATCH OUT’ says Demas

Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Copyright Organisation of TT(COTT), Allison Demas, has sent out a strong message to the major music pirates in the country, saying that they will be found and will face dire consequences. “We are coming after them and they better watch out,” she said. Speaking with Sunday Newsday last week, she compared music piracy to the drug trade, pointing out that the major distributors are like “drug lords” and the sellers on the streets are like the “drug pushers.” Demas said the people who sell pirated music on the streets are like thieves, “selling stolen goods or jewelry.” With this in mind, she called on the general public not to support their sales since they are robbing TT of its culture. She warned the major distributors that music piracy is a serious criminal offence, which is liable to a fine of as much as $100,000 and to imprisonment for ten years. She indicated that currently there were about 50 pending court cases relating to music piracy and that COTT will be going after many more cases.

Demas is calling on Government to work with the organisation, since several amendments are needed in the existing Copyright Bill to make it more efficient. “Once these amendments are made, it will facilitate stronger enforcement of the law,” she said. However, she noted that both the ruling PNM and the  Opposition need to agree on the necessary amendments to the Bill if they are serious about saving the national culture from music pirates. Demas disclosed that because of the losses local music entertainers incur as a result of the piracy, great calypsonians such as the Mighty Shadow, have expressed disenchantment with the industry. “When music piracy occurs, everyone loses out, the performer, the composer, the producers, everyone involved in the production of the song,” she said. She said even government will lose out in the end, since it will mean less revenue returns. So how detrimental is music piracy to TT’s culture? “Very detrimental,” she said. Demas pointed out that at the rate piracy is occurring, TT will not be able to boast about a Carnival that is its own, since it has spread internationally through piracy. “The pirates are stealing and robbing our creativity and that is a serious, criminal offence,” she said.

What is copyright

Copyright is the exclusive right granted by law to the creator of original literary, artistic or musical works (or the creator’s assignee such as a publisher), to authorise, or prohibit certain acts in relation to such works. Any person who does, or authorises others to do any of the restricted acts without consent from the copyright owner, infringes copyright. The TT Copyright Act of 1997, grants distinct and separate rights that apply to music. Two of these rights are the performing right and the reproduction right.

Copyright Act 1997 - Section
34 - Infringements

Copyright in a work is infringed by a person who, without the authorization of the owner of copyright-
(a) possesses in the course of a business,
(b) sells or lets for hire, or offers or exposes for sale or hire
(c) in the course of a business exhibits in public or distributes or
(d) distributes otherwise that in the course of a business to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of copyright
 
Section 41-

A person who commits an infringement of a right protected under this Act for profit-making purposes, knowing or having reason to believe that he is committing an infringement, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $100,000 and to imprisonment for ten years. The amount of the fine shall be fixed by the magistrate, taking into account the defendant’s profits attributable to the infringement.