Piracy hits authors, artists hard

BY DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR

KATHMANDU, Nov 25 - With easy access to new technology, piracy has not only hit the nerve centre of the music industry but also the world of art and literature, threatening the future of professional artists and authors. Nepal does have strong anti-piracy legislation. However, ...

"We have strong laws but very weak implementation," said Siva Prasad Khanal, legal officer at Nepal copyright registrar's office, under the Ministry of Culture and State Restructuring. "As it entails lengthy legal process and heavy financial burden, only a few victims dare to knock on the court's door.

The copyright Act 2002 states that those involved in piracy shall be slapped fines ranging from Rs.10,000 to Rs 100,000 or six-month imprisonment, or both. But a few cases in point help illustrate why victims don't bother to take the legal route.

On August 4, 2006, photo journalist Rajendra Manandhar filed a case at Kathmandu District Court demanding compensation against Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) after finding the NGO was using and distributing his photos among various media houses without his permission. But the court dismissed the case for "lack of evidence".

Likewise, on March 10, 2007, Nepal Association of Music Industry filed a case at Chitwan District Court, demanding adequate compensation from Siva Lal Shrestha of Ratna Nagar Municipality-2, after catching Shrestha red-handed pirating a music video. But, the case was again dismissed for "lack of evidence.

According to data provided by Nepal copyright registrar's office, till now, only seven cases of copyright violation have reached the court, and compensations were provided in just two of the cases. Similarly, over 150 complaints have been submitted with the registrar's office in a four-year period.

There is no separate police cell to look into cases related to copyright or intellectual property rights; neither is any quasi-legal right provided to Nepal copyright registrar's office to check piracy. The result: rampant piracy. The government had set up Nepal copyrights registrar's office in 2004.

 "We have been confined to playing the role of mediator between victims and perpetrators," said Bir Bahadur Rai, registrar at Nepal copyright registrar's office. "We witness piracy of CDs, cassettes and books, but cannot do anything about it.