Pirates of the Caribbean
The development of intellectual property awareness is in its infancy in Trinidad. It should help science and arts grow, but can do the opposite if the system is abused. It was a common sight to see the young and unemployed selling pirated CDs on the roadside with local music. These were custom-made CDs of the best songs, sold for a quarter of the original price.
These young street vendors complain that they have no other way of earning a living and that they are taking the bread out of there families mouth. The prices of original Cds with compilations, which include the best songs of the year, are expensive because of the copyright dues that must be paid to many artists and others. In addition to that a couple days after the song is released these music pirates already have them burnt and ready to sell, most songs only comes out on Cds after the Carnival season. Store owners who sell Original CDs had to resort to closing down their stores or joining the list of pirates because of wide scale piracy.
Artistes also feel like they are never fully compensated for their work and they relay the message that piracy is taking food out of their children’s mouths. I also agree with this but then there is another side to it these “pirates” blast and sell the songs of these local artistes throughout the streets of the major towns of Trinidad and Tobago acting as a form of promotion for these artiste. In turn these songs become more and more popular causing the artiste to be in high demand in the feting arena. When COTT started, they implemented a fee that would be paid by taxi drivers if they played their car radios. The same fee would apply for radio broadcasts in malls. The public outcry against this was tremendous. Some local artists boycotted COTT because they felt this would stifle their music, not help it. COTT claimed taxis were public places and broadcasts without permission were unauthorized. Wouldn’t anti piracy stifle their music as well?
These young street vendors complain that they have no other way of earning a living and that they are taking the bread out of there families mouth. The prices of original Cds with compilations, which include the best songs of the year, are expensive because of the copyright dues that must be paid to many artists and others. In addition to that a couple days after the song is released these music pirates already have them burnt and ready to sell, most songs only comes out on Cds after the Carnival season. Store owners who sell Original CDs had to resort to closing down their stores or joining the list of pirates because of wide scale piracy.
Artistes also feel like they are never fully compensated for their work and they relay the message that piracy is taking food out of their children’s mouths. I also agree with this but then there is another side to it these “pirates” blast and sell the songs of these local artistes throughout the streets of the major towns of Trinidad and Tobago acting as a form of promotion for these artiste. In turn these songs become more and more popular causing the artiste to be in high demand in the feting arena. When COTT started, they implemented a fee that would be paid by taxi drivers if they played their car radios. The same fee would apply for radio broadcasts in malls. The public outcry against this was tremendous. Some local artists boycotted COTT because they felt this would stifle their music, not help it. COTT claimed taxis were public places and broadcasts without permission were unauthorized. Wouldn’t anti piracy stifle their music as well?
Higher costs are a hard pill to swallow, is it better to be on the right side of the law and in good conscience. I cannot unknowingly steal from others. What is your stance?
posted by kevian | 11:59 AM
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