THE effort by the Tony Abulu led Filmmakers Association of Nigeria (FAN) to regulate sales of Nollywood movie in the USA received a major boost recently when the US authorities cracked down on the alleged pirates of Nigerian films in Brooklyn area of New York state. The sweep has been hailed as the ‘biggest and most successful raid’ carried out since the campaign against illegal sale of pirated Nigerian films in the United States by FAN began a few years ago. Indeed, time may be winding down for pirates and shop owners in the US, who peddle pirated offerings of the Nigerian motion picture industry dubbed Nollywood.

Following repeated complaints of rampant piracy in Brooklyn, the unofficial hub of distribution of African films in the United States, and based on a specific request by Abulu to the District Attorney Charles Hynes , the New York law enforcement authorities on Thursday last week, engaged the pirates and after the raid on about nine stores along Church, Nostrand, Cortelyon Road and Flatbush Avenues, they announced the seizure of more than 10,000 pirated Nigerian made films.

The Investigators in Brooklyn under District Attorney Hynes also said they found high-volume disc copying machines, hundreds of blank DVDs and printed label for movies in the nine stores that were initially targeted for the raid. Hundreds of the seized pirated DVDs and the printed labels including some of Nollywood’s recent offerings like Treasure Hunt starring Jim Iyke; Stolen Will, Material Girl and Mind Game were later lined on a table in front of District Attorney Hynes at a crowded press conference attended by some members of FAN and the actor, Jim Iyke, who was on vacation in the United States. In fact, like the lover he jilted in one of the pirated movies Treasure Hunt in which he starred as lead actor, Iyke appeared sober throughout the conference, where Hynes stressed that the ‘sale of bootleg and counterfeit goods deprives the city and state of New York of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue.’ Hynes noted that the illegal sale of the movies deprives the artists who made the movies of their well-deserved proceeds. The District Attorney also observed that ‘the villains in this drama are the shop owners who peddle pirated DVDs, a crime that is tantamount to outright theft’.

Though Hynes did not confirm whether some arrests were made during the raid, the Attorney described the bootleggers as ‘parasitic crooks’ and assured that ‘people will go to jail for such an act’. A thunderous applause greeted that remark from Hynes. Even Iyke thinks that the authorities in America should be commended for standing up to what is clearly a rape on the creative industry. "I commend the authorities here in America", he said as he held a copy of one of the counterfeited movie jackets. "It is this kind of approach that is lacking back home in our industry. As far as I am concerned the government of Nigeria pays mere lip service to the fight against piracy. I have a feeling that some people in government are the ones conniving with these pirates to rip us blue. Piracy is a menace. This is why we don’t make money from our movies and this is why producers cannot return to do another movie, so that we can at least earn more. These pirates have continually deprived those of us in the creative business of our well deserved due’ he said. ‘But I am glad about this development’ he surmised.

If Iyke is happy at the sting operation on the pirates that was code named ‘Operation Access Nollywood’, Abulu, President of the FAN is more than elated at the development. Those who are familiar with the entertainment content provider and President and CEO of Black Ivory Communications, a multi-faceted media and film production company based in New York City know that one of the very peculiar features of the producer of Coming to Africa and other movies, is that he hardly wears the face of a troubled person even when he is overwhelmed with serious problems. But the activities of pirates and those who sell Nigerian movies illegally has for some time now killed that stoic posture in Abulu, who described piracy as an act of national theft. No wonder then that Abulu was full of gratitude to Hynes and his men, who according to him have with their actions ensured that "the sweat and blood of Africa, both on the continent and in the US will not go to waste".

Abulu, who described the African film industry in the United States as a veritable revenue generator for Africa, maintained that the FAN has been in the forefront of the campaign against the infringement of copyrighted African films in the United States, but he noted that the success of the raid by the United States’ law enforcement agencies only goes to show that the infringement of copyrighted African films in the US will no longer be tolerated. Abulu thanked all the organizations and law firms that participated in the process leading to the sting operation like The Kings County DA’s Office, Public Interest Intellectual property Advisors and some of the major distributors of Nollywood films in the United States like Executive Image African Movies and Sanga Entertainment for their efforts, noting that the raid was ‘the beginning of targeted investigations and raids of establishment that undermine the growth of Nollywood and deprive critical stakeholders of reaping their investment in time, money and energy across the United States.

While declaring an end to the promotion and unjust enrichment of unscrupulous third parties that deny local and state authorities their tax dollars, Abulu reiterated that piracy remains the albatross of Nollywood; and sadly as he said, the government in Nigeria has not been able to curb the piracy. Abulu was, however, optimistic that with the recent step taken by the US authorities, producers will in turn be offered commensurate fees for their works. "As soon as the US market is swept clean of these criminals who have no regard for the hardwork and sacrifice of their fellow Africans, DVD sales of Nollywood movies will increase exponentially, easily selling an average of 100,000 to 200,000 copies at five Dollars per copy. Nollywood producers will in turn be offered commensurate fees for their film distribution rights in the US territory. Then producers can embark on presenting worthy authentic stories with quality technical formats for their teeming audience worldwide’.

Samuel Ameyaw who runs Executive Image African Movies agrees with Abulu. He noted that pirates have been responsible for the decline in the sales of licensed copies in the United States.

I have been distributing Nollywood films for about 10 years now and have even gone out of my way to plead with some of these guys to sell only licensed copies but they will not hear. In fact, all my pleas went to deaf ear. After sometime, I had to drop the price of the licensed films to be able to compete with them’ Ameyaw lamented. But Abulu sees light at the end of the tunnel, especially for the likes of Ameyaw, who distribute licensed movies in the US. Beyond the raids, the FAN, he said has worked out a comprehensive programme that will provide unprecedented support for Nollywood. He said: ‘the main reason Nollywood film distributors in the US offers relatively low distribution fees is that immediately the films are legitimately released by them in the US, internet criminals buy a copy and stream it for free on the World Wide Web to over 100,000 free viewers per title.

"Over 20 illegal internet sites have been identified by FAN, owned and operated mostly by Nigerians, Ghanaians and some Caribbean nationals living in the US and the United Kingdom. Some of the website owners falsely claim that the Nollywood films are free of any copyright because they are not represented by any authorised distributors in the US. But by registering the copyrights of the films in the US, FAN can now officially litigate all infringers.

"FAN has entered joint agreements with African Artists Collaborative (AAC), a non-profit institution in the US, which has gained the full support of Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors (PIIPA). The joint initiative between FAN, AAC and PIIPA provides unprecedented support for Nollywood by supplying top US attorneys to help register and litigate copyright infringement of Nollywood films in the US Pro Bono Publico’. Besides that, the FAN, USA has on another level signed mainstream American distribution rights deals with three American distributors for United States theatrical and DVD release.

Officials of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) said they were aware of the raid in Brooklyn and have since opened lines of communication with the relevant authorities in the United States on how to tackle the scourge. But the leadership of the Coalition of Nollywood Guilds and Association (CONGA) thinks the NCC should do more than ‘mere opening lines of communication’. CONGA wants the NCC to emulate the step talking by the US law enforcement authorities to tackle the menace. "They should get decisive and leave all the talk, we want action and not mere talk," remarked Bond Emeruwa, President of CONGA, who hinted that the organisation has since sent a letter of commendation to both the FAN and the Brooklyn District Attorney for the feat so far recorded. Emoruwa also announced the setting up of special anti-piracy committee, which the coalition has empowered to evolve a multi-faced approach to tackling piracy in its entirety. "We were excited when we heard the news. We are particularly pleased that some Nigerians residing in the United States of America who are doing legitimate business also care a lot about this industry. We congratulate the Filmmakers Association of Nigeria for that milestone. It is no small achievement and we want to say that we shall emulate the steps they have taken as we shall engage the relevant law enforcement agencies in the country to fight copyright infringement headlong".