Wednesday March 12th 2008

To date the largest threat affecting the local music industry is music piracy. It is still the vision of music industry stakeholders to see music piracy curtailed in Trinidad and Tobago.

The time has come where we must take a more dynamic and multi-faceted approach towards the eradication of music piracy. The exclusive rights granted to creators are useless if civil remedies and criminal sanctions are not enforced by relevant bodies and authorities. Our biggest hindrance has been a lack of consistent enforcement of copyright laws in Trinidad and Tobago.

RIATT is proposing the establishment of a multi-agency anti-piracy task force.
The agency will comprise of representatives from the Trinidad and Tobago Police service, Customs and Excise, Intellectual Property Office, Copyright and Neighboring Rights Organizations, Music Industry Trade Associations, and other relevant bodies.

In anticipation of the passing of the Copyright Amendment Bill 2008, which seeks to strengthen the enforcement provisions of the existing 1997 Copyright Act, the proposed agency will be identified as the central body to carry out various enforcement provisions within the Copyright Act. The agency’s objective is to effectively deter and eliminate all forms of copyright infringement in Trinidad and Tobago.

By taking this approach, organizations such as the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Interpol, and the FBI’s anti-piracy units will find it more feasible in granting the agency assistance as a united body rather than individual interest groups. The agency will work closely with other international anti-piracy organizations in an effort to adopt all current effective anti-piracy procedures.

With the right resources, the agency intends to address all levels of intellectual property crime in Trinidad and Tobago; however the restriction of the following activities is on the agency’s high priority list:

• Simple Piracy.
• Bootlegs.
• Illegal businesses offering the sale of counterfeit CDs and DVDs.
• Unauthorized importation and exportation of CDs, DVDs and other Music related media.
• Small and large scale illegal CD and DVD duplication facilities.
• Online websites offering sale of unauthorized recordings, music videos, master ring tones and other entertainment content.
• Illegal downloading of music via Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing networks.
• Unauthorized broadcasting of entertainment content via cable networks.
• Unauthorized streaming of radio and television broadcasts over the internet.
• Unauthorized public performance of musical works, sound recordings and audio visual works.
• The illegal importation, manufacture and distribution of physical circumventing devices.
• The circumventing of technological measures used by right holders to protect their rights.
• Deliberate removal of rights management information on electronic media.

We propose the formation of this agency to be under the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

For further information contact:
Fabien Alfonso
Email: info@riatt.org
1-868-682-8174