Discop Africa, which takes place 1-3 September 2010 at the Hilton Nairobi in Kenya, has announced the launch of the Africa Media Rights Watch initiative, an anti-piracy body monitoring the region.
Africa Media Rights Watch officially launches on Friday 11 February, during the 5th edition of Discop Africa to take place in Accra, Ghana from 9 to 11 February, 2011.
Following a series of meetings that have taken place during the last two Discop Africa markets, many of the leading broadcasters and content suppliers involved in sub-Saharan Africa have come together to form Africa Media Rights Watch. The initiative is supported by international key players such as Canal+ Overseas, M-Net and Cote Ouest as well as by African associations of broadcasters and content producers.
As an anti-piracy body standing against audiovisual piracy across that region, Africa Media Rights Watch’s objective is to help establish and promote a business environment that is respectful of copyright laws and of measures to enforce these laws. Participants believe the timing is right considering the speed at which the sub-Saharan African television marketplace has grown over the last two years.
Commenting on the anti-piracy initiative, Bernard Azria, Founding Manager, Cote Ouest, Africa’s largest independent distributor noted, “It is vital that the problem of piracy be eliminated, or at least significantly reduced in sub-Saharan Africa. If the theft of intellectual property is allowed to continue at its present levels it will be a very severe blow to the possibility of building a flourishing audiovisual business with a secure long-terms future in the region’.
Benedicte Cheneut, General Manager, Canal+ Overseas, agreed, saying, “For all those legitimately concerned with the audiovisual business in Sub-Saharan Africa, content piracy is robbing them of their future. We have to put an end to this theft, and we will’.
Mike Dearham, Head of Sales and Acquisitions, M-Net, underlined the necessity of the initiative, observing, “It is not enough merely to frame rules, it is also necessary to construct a mechanism capable of ensuring that the rules are enforced’.
Patrick Jucaud, Founding Manager, Discop Organisation, “As the only market at which the continent’s entire audiovisual business gathers, Discop Africa has a key role to play in providing the means for all the major players of sub-Saharan Africa to unite and defeat the pirates, and we are very pleased to host the launch of the Africa Media Rights Watch initiative’.
