By Leroy M. Sonpon, III for Ceasefire Liberia
The national body of both gospel and secular musicians, the Musician Union of Liberia (MULIB), has initiated a five-man Anti-Piracy Task Force to work along with the Government of Liberia to reduce the high level of illegal duplication and sale of musical works of both Liberian and foreign artists.
The Anti-Piracy Task Force is headed by Kekura M. Kamara, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Balawala International Foundation and executive member of MULIB. Other members include Ms. Florence Jlopleh, Messrs G. Buku Gillah and I. Ableegar Williams, all executives of the Union, and Mr. Tony Karbadeh, producer and recording engineer.
According to Cecil B. Griffiths, the president of MULIB, the initiative is due to the continuous hardship faced by Liberian recording artists who could not make money from their work as a result of the high rate of illegal duplication and sale of their works.
“The Union has noticed that several businesses and individuals copy the CDs and cassettes of artists and sell them without the permission or authorization of the artists and their managers. Radio stations, hotels, and phone companies also utilize the work of artists free without paying a dime for the usage of music or music-related products. Additionally, our radio and television stations do not have music logs which make it practically impossible to monitor airplay of musical works,” Mr. Griffiths said.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, the MULIB boss further revealed that the Liberia Copyright Office had introduced hologram stamps to identify each musical work that is marketed in Liberia, but is not receiving the full support from Government.
In order to address this situation, the Musicians Union has constituted this five-man Task Force with the following mandate: to collaborate with the Liberia Copyright Office in the implementation of the National Anti-Piracy Program and to create awareness, educate and sensitive the public on the nature, extent and consequences of piracy of musical and other artistic works.
“The Task Force will also conduct seminars and workshops for stakeholders to provide valuable information as to how they can assist in protecting their works against piracy, monitor the piracy situation in the country and make periodic reports and lastly identify perpetrators and file reports to the Government for appropriate action, amongst others,” Mr. Griffiths explained.
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