Score one for law, zero for pirates

Leon Schuster comments, "I am pleased that those responsible for pirating Mama Jack have been arrested. Their action can be compared to stealing or shoplifting. I hope that the arrests sends out a strong message to all those involved in piracy that they will face the law for their illegal activities."

The parties arrested are former employees of The Video Lab, the post-production facility at which Mama Jack was edited. The Oscar-winning film, Tsotsi, was also pirated by the same people. The arrests came after a comprehensive investigation that spanned more than three months.

"Based on the performance of the theatrical box office of Mama Jack, and tracking it parallel to Mr Bones, Mama Jack was 20% higher than Mr Bones from its release until the end of December, when the pirate versions surfaced. This resulted in an estimated loss of over R10 million of potential revenue at the boxoffice, while the estimated loss of income for DVD and video is over R5 million," says Sanjeev Singh, head of acquisition and distribution for Videovision Entertainment.

"We are currently assessing our legal position and will decide how to proceed in the next few days," continues Singh.

Mama Jack will be released officially nationwide on DVD and video by Nu Metro Home Entertainment for rental and sell-thru this Friday, 7 April 2006.