Brisk trade in compact discs on the streets and markets of our cities is directly connected with the international scandal now erupting around Ukraine. CDs with the proud label “Made in Ukraine” have proved to be formidable competitors with those made by Western audio- recording firms.
An International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ‘’hit list’’ includes more than 20 countries in which sales of illegal CDs has exceeded those of the licensed discs. According to US estimates, financial losses the world producers suffer as a result of audio- and video piracy have reached 200 million dollars. On arrival of the US president, this problem has assumed a political tint. Protection of intellectual property was high on the agenda of Bill Clinton’s visit, as was the Chornobyl power plant shutdown.
Accusations now being hurled against Ukraine present this country as the hub of European piracy. In particular, there are 5 Ukrainian enterprises putting out, as the IFPI claims, 10 ‘’fakes’’ for each licensed CD.
Oleh Purik, manager of the Mashel factory, one of those on the IFPI list, asserts this is an artificially created problem. It has no juridical grounds. This is why attempts are being made to attach a political status to it. Ukrainian, as well as international, law does not oblige the dubber to exercise copyright control. Moreover, not a single concrete example of Ukraine’s piratical crimes has ever been cited. For if there is a thief, there must also be a victim somewhere. Expert studies, in particular by the 1+1 Channel, have indeed revealed strange passivity of copyright holders: there has been not a single lawsuit against the violators.
It is common knowledge regional TV companies sometimes beam piratical films right from the street hawkers’ stands. All hear the stolen music on the air. A couple of court trials awarding huge fines would suffice to dissuade others from this kind of risk. For example, Buena Vista International, in conjunction with a Ukrainian legal firm, tried to file a civil suit against several regional channels for the unauthorized show of Walt Disney films. The trial was unnecessary because the TV companies opted for an out-of-court settlement of the copyright holder’s proprietary claims.
