New DVD copyright law hits consumers

With a new copyright law virtually putting an end to the pirate DVD business in Fiji, consumers now have to pay more to rent original DVDs.

People that Wansolwara spoke to said that the price of renting DVDs was too high.

Before the copyright law came into effect, pirated copies were selling for as little as a $1 each at most outlets and street side stalls.

Shalini Ram, who previously used to buy pirated DVDs every week, says that she is shocked by the new prices. ³I now have to pay $3 just to rent a DVD, which is too high, especially given the hard times that Fiji is going through,² she said.

New releases can cost between $5-$6.

The new law comes after years of pressure from authorised dealers. Some dealers claimed that the piracy rates in Fiji had reached 99 per cent, probably the highest percentage in the world.

The Fiji situation even drew the attention of the Australian Federal Police, which said Fiji was the target destination for an organised video and audio piracy gang, shipping discs into the Pacific and the Asian regions.

According to some estimates, the Fiji Government lost about FJD$40 million in customs duty and VAT in 2005 because of piracy.

Furthermore, data from Fiji¹s national statistics bureau showed that, in 2005, over 3.3 million movie recording storage devices of various formats were imported into Fiji.

Consumer groups, however, said the authorised dealers were partly responsible for the problem because their charges were way too high, and their conditions too restrictive.

Apart from expensive rental rates, consumers were often charged exorbitant fines if they were late in returning DVDs. They were also heavily charged for damaged or lost DVDs.

Pirated DVDs were cheaply and widely available with no hassles about returning the tapes. Many authorised dealers were soon out of business, including the Video Ezy franchise after just a short stint in Fiji.

Since the new law came into effect on September this year, the pirates have all but disappeared. With a new copyright law virtually putting an end to the pirate DVD business in Fiji, consumers now have to pay more to rent original DVDs.

Illegal dealers face fines of $5,000 to $50,000, or 12 months imprisonment. Customers are slowly returning to the original dealers. They have to pay memberships fees as well as higher rental charges.

Not all consumers are complaining though. Concerned mother of two Shazia Jalal says the new law is a good move as many students will now focus more on their studies.

³Parents will dissuade their children from movies as they will try to cut down their expenses. Instead of watching movies every night, children will now focus more on their studies,² she said.

Thirteen-year-old class eight student Johnathan Vuda said his parents have become strict about him watching movies.

I used to buy two movies every Saturday from the pocket money that I saved during the week. However, I cannot afford it now,² he said.

ENDS

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