A Nollywood actor, Samuel Ajibola popularly known as “Jibbz”, on Friday stressed the need to incorporate pirates in the entertainment industry to stem the high rate of piracy in the country.
Ajibola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that pirates would not give up easily because they were making money from pirating intellectual properties.
According to him, the best thing is for stakeholders in the entertainment industry to meet with the pirates with a view to incorporating them into the fold of production.
“Recently, the government has joined forces in supporting the film industry and so we expect things to get better, but no because of the nefarious activities of pirates.
“The fight against piracy is not going to be an easy one as these pirates themselves survive and make a living through this crooked means.
“Incorporating them into the scheme of things would go a long way in curbing what wrong they are doing.
“If there is a possible roundtable discussion with the pirates to integrate them, it would go a long way to help curb piracy.
“Making them legal stakeholders in the industry will improve things and intellectual properties will be better off,” he said.
The actor noted that pirates were principally motivated by self-interest because it was cheap for them to reproduce intellectuals’ properties, like films, and books among others.
“It is cheap, free and convenient for them to get that economic huge benefit for themselves and rob the owners of their benefits.
“The chances of them being caught are slim; the chances of them being given punishment that will deter them are even slimmer.
“They know they will get away with what they are doing because there are no stiff punishment for them,’’ Ajibola said.
NAN reports that Ajibola is a B.Sc holder in political science from the University of Lagos, and hails from Ekiti State.
He has acted in many films including; “Shuga’’ which was released in 2009, the sitcom series the Johnsons as “Spiff’’ and a host of others. (NAN)
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