Entertainment: Catch the pirate

I feel irritated when I see the word DJ Tom, or DJ Jerry or any other deejay in town on the music video I am watching. Sometimes it is accompanied by weird drum sounds, flashes or introduced by a caption like “DJ X PRESENTS LIL WAYNE”This makes me wonder if DJ X talked to Lil Wayne before attaching his label to the artiste’s video. This act is called piracy, in case you didn’t know. The word “piracy” refers to acts of robbery or criminal violence especially at seas and oceans. In showbiz he who distributes works of art without consent of the artist or the producer is a pirate. He/she is as bad as the notorious Somali pirates because of the negative impact to the entertainment industry. In the USA where show business is considered to be most advanced, the crime of piracy is charged with minimum of five years imprisonment and several thousands of dollars in fines. Many countries around the world also put strict measures to stop pirates. Back to Rwanda, most pirates operate on busier streets in disguise of music promoters. They prefer to call themselves deejays though their work is nowhere related to the services of a professional disc jockey from club. It is not a surprise to hear these ‘deejays’ praising themselves in the media for the way they support young artists. It is funny how they even enjoy the celebrity status. They are always in hot local entertainment news just like any other singer or actor. There was an incident in around mid 2010 where the police tried to stop piracy by detaining suspected unauthorized distributors. This effort helped much but it did not stop the pirates though. They are back in their studios or work places, supplying selections of CDs and DVDs to their clients. Well, piracy sometimes has positive impacts on movie and music fans. The pirated products are cheaper, and they are easily spread even to the remotest buyers. The pirated version of a video reaches Rwanda even before the original theatrical version is launched. The eagerly waiting fans fall victims of the pirated products that are characterized by poor quality sounds and images. In Rwanda it is much easier to get a pirated version of a certain album or movie than looking out for the original.Everyone with a computer has the potential to download any piece he needs from the internet. Pirates also distribute the releases of upcoming artists. Though these new artists are also exploited indirectly, it offers them a shortcut to stardom. They can avoid the pirates after they have become famous.Presently, the chain of distribution of music and movies has been largely diverted from legal distributor to pirates. This tendency also channels the sales receipts from the movie producer and their production firms to the pirates. That explains why international pirates earn billions of dollars each year, while movie producers sometimes register flops with their theatrical versions. It is unethical seeing someone depend on the hard work of their neighbour. Pirates will end up destroying showbiz as they are discouraging artists to realize their worth from their works of art. Everyone concerned has a part to play in stopping this problem. Ends