Piracy - The Facts

DVD piracy like any other form of copying, renting, selling someone’s copyright without the owner’s permission is illegal.  Producers of Hollywood or local movies are under serious threat by the wave of unlawful piracy that has become the accepted norm in our country Trinidad and Tobago, as well as around the world. Producers and film companies invest huge sums in making a movie to entertain the public and similarly cinema exhibitors pay huge film rental fees to have the permission and right to play these movies to you our audiences to entertain you and delight you.

While watching a pirated DVD in the comfort of your home can never be compared to the outing of seeing the same movie in a cinema on a big screen with big sound, big picture quality and now 3D, there’s still a bigger danger.  Think about it, every business runs the same way, simply put, you buy something from a supplier to sell in part or whole to another customer.  Are you comfortable with purchasing a product for your family to watch that is being stolen? The DVD pirates in Trinidad and Tobago do not have the DVD rights to reproduce, rent or sell any of the movies that they sell now and they continue to break the law brazenly. Do you really want to be supporting this illegal practice and contributing to their growth? And think about the example that you are teaching your children to support stealing at this level?

Many of our citizens are not aware or are oblivious to the fact that piracy of music or movies is illegal in Trinidad and Tobago.  There is a heavy fine of $100,000 or imprisonment if a perpetrator is prosecuted and found guilty of reproducing, renting or selling pirated DVD movies.  While there is currently little effort and focus on enforcement by the authorities to curb this breach of our law, there are many ministries and committees working hard to update our laws to conform with that of developed countries and to put strategies in place to eradicate this growing problem.

Even though at this time, there are little or no consequences in our law for citizens who rent or purchase these illegal DVD movies, we urge you as customers and citizens of our country to stand up and say NO to any level of crime and unlawfulness in our country and to start by SAYING NO TO PIRACY.

We know change will come for the better of our people and our country and MovieTowne is in full support of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in the fight against piracy.