Counterfeiting and property infringements

Feb 28, 2012 Editorial

Intellectual copyright is one of the things on which moist societies run. People in the performing arts make money because the rest of society pays for the stuff they produce. Indeed, it is common in the developing world that the governments, perhaps because of a paucity of funds for things other than development, would turn a blind eye to infringements.
But in those countries where there is total respect for the law there is a determined effort to protect intellectual property. Governments are constantly on the lookout for counterfeit products and ever so often they would raid factories known to produce counterfeit goods.
We have seen images of the destruction of huge quantities of counterfeit products. These range from watches to other electronic items to currency to clothing and footwear. Many of these factories produce such high quality imitations that to the casual eye the imitation could pass for the genuine article. And producing good imitations is what makes the counterfeit market tick.
The consumer may find that the produce is cheaper than what it should be, but the intellectual author of the property is denied his rightful due in terms of financial returns. In some countries, there are special units whose job is merely to trace counterfeit products. Their very presence is testimony to the importance they place on stamping out counterfeiting.
Guyana is a poor country and counterfeiting thrives. Many people care less about counterfeit products. For them, the importance is the goods. The result is that they sport these goods. The movie industry thrives on counterfeit products. DVDs proliferate. They can be had for a fraction of the cost of the original product. In fact, there are places that mass produce the items.
Movies are seen almost as soon as they are released because people copy them, rather poorly, using cameras in the cinemas. People would sit and look at the very poor imitation without concern. Similarly, television stations pirate material from the satellite and redistribute them without fear of sanction.
In fact, an Indian movie distributor had to move to the courts to prevent the showing of its movies on a television station without due permission.
Singer Eddy Grant had cause to remark that he made all his money in England where intellectual property is respected and where infringements are severely punished. When he came to Guyana he contemplated setting up a recording studio. He changed his mind when he realized that while the law is there, he had no guarantee that his property would be protected.
About two decades ago when cassettes were the major instruments of recording he proposed a ban on them. He did not cater for compact discs and the machines that record on them to become household articles.
Today, compact discs (CDs) are obsolescent. Music can easily be downloaded on flash drives. Guyanese would avoid paying for anything if they could.
People parade the streets with articles that look genuine, but close inspection would reveal them to be fakes. They could not care.
People would expect the government to clamp down on counterfeiting, but this is not the case. It has been revealed that they print textbooks in large quantities. The Education Ministry actually pays a printery. Decades ago, Cuba explained that in the face of the blockade it printed textbooks procured by its citizens who would travel overseas in search of material which they would then buy and return to their homeland. We are doing the same thing.
How it is that we have escaped sanction is beyond imagination. The international community appears to be turning a blind eye. The lending agencies have been known to withhold financing in the face of such infringements. This time some try to reduce the counterfeiting by actually donating textbooks, albeit not in the quantities that the country would require.
The fear on the part of right-minded citizens is that once such illegal acts appear to be gaining the nod of approval by the government then the wider society may come to regard illegality as part of daily life. This could destroy the very fabric of the society.
The pacifists among us would remark that the end justifies the means. The end is to educate the children and this should be done at all cost. Yet, a father who steals to support his children cannot with moral authority tell his children that they should not steal.

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Counterfeiting and property infringements

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