Piracy of DVDs and games continues to grow in South Africa - but now the SA entertainment industry is fighting back with a hard-hitting multi-million rand marketing campaign to help consumers understand that supporting piracy is supporting crime.
The campaign, featuring a sinister, hooded figure, broke last week on television, in cinemas, in print, on radio, online and outdoor, as well as in retail and rental outlets, at a time when the film industry estimates that as much as 50% of all DVDs in South Africa are illegal, pirated copies.
The campaign is being driven by the SA Federation against Copyright Theft (Safact), the non-profit body representing all sectors of the SA entertainment industry involved in the production and distribution of films and interactive games.
"The industry is losing many millions of rands in lost sales every year - but the real victim of piracy is the consumer, who's getting poor-quality stolen goods dumped on them at a massive profit, thus robbing them of the world-class movie experience to which they're entitled," says Neil Jacobsohn, communications adviser to Safact.
Only consumers themselves can turn back this tide, by refusing to buy pirated DVDs from street-sellers, flea markets and even some stores. This was a key message from the marketing campaign, said Jacobsohn.
Safact's campaign is being widely supported by the media and entertainment industry in South Africa, with television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines and many suppliers providing millions of rands worth of services and advertising space.
"The fact that the entire entertainment industry has rallied around this cause, to explain to consumers that piracy is a crime, is evidence of just how serious it has become," said Jacobsohn.
Major Government departments, including the Department of Trade and Industry, the Justice Department, Customs & Excise and SA Police Services are also deeply involved in the fight against piracy, and are working closely with Safact.
Statistics just released by Safact show the extent of piracy:
And yet this is the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of illegal DVDs and games are being smuggled into SA every week, despite a number of recent seizures of huge loads of smuggled goods by customs officials at airports.
"The bottom line is that this is organised crime, and these are stolen goods - nothing more, nothing less," said Jacobsohn. "The purpose of our campaign is to ask consumers to think before they buy. You wouldn't buy a hijacked car. You wouldn't buy a stolen TV. So why support crime by buying pirated DVDs and games?"
Thus the campaign slogan: "By supporting criminals, you become one," said Jacobsohn.
The massive campaign will run until after Christmas. Elements include:
Jacobsohn said that there had been some criticism of the entertainment industry for perceived high prices of DVDs and games. "The industry is deeply sensitive to the market and we have made great strides to reduce prices of these products, with catalogue DVDs available at prices as low as R99 or two for R149. New releases are generally slightly more expensive, up to about R200," he said.
Pirated DVDs may be cheaper, said Jacobsohn, for the simple reason that they are stolen goods. "Plus pirated goods are often poor quality," he said.
"We're hoping our consumers will come to understand that the pirates are not heroic 'Robin Hoods' stealing from the rich to help the poor. They are organized criminals, with links to drugs and other crimes, who coldly and illegally smuggle in or copy stolen goods to sell to unsuspecting or uncaring consumers."
The entertainment industry would continue and step up its fight against piracy, said Jacobsohn.
"But at the end of the day, the real power lies in the hands of you, the consumer. All you have to do is make the decision not to support crime - and stop buying stolen goods."
