How artistes, govt continue to lose billions from piracy every year

By Abdul Mohammed

Dar es Salaam. When the government made it mandatory beginning 2013 for all CDs and DVDs sold in Tanzania to have tax stamps, the aim was to seal the loopholes that had over the years denied it of billions of shillings in potential revenue from the music industry. The decision also came as sweet music to Tanzanian artistes who had been suffering exploitation from a poor production and distribution system. It was supposed to bring hope -- and it did -- to some extent. Sadly, that hope was shortlived.

Four years later, the music industry is back to singing the same old tune – this time it’s piracy that has come in full force, and continued to rear its ugly head.

Investigations carried out by The Citizen, and the analysis of available official data show that artistes and the government have over the years been losing billions of shillings from pirates who produce and sell artistic work to a thriving market through illegal channels. The situation is the same in other East African countries, mainly Uganda and Kenya.

Immediately after the introduction of tax stamps in Tanzania, the legal production of CDs and DVDs rose slightly, helping artistes and the taxman to raise revenue from the industry that initially contributed much less due to the lack of a watertight system.

Data obtained from the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) reveals that in 2013, 3.44 million copies of CDs and DVDs were sold and contributed Sh172 million in revenue to the treasury. Sales picked up more than five times in 2014 after TRA moved to plug loopholes in the production and distribution process.

About 16.57 million copies were purchased legally and helped the government collect Sh826.5 million, the all-time highest from the industry.

However, two years later, official sales figures fell down by 11 million copies, thanks to pirates who produce fake copies and sale them in the streets at relatively cheaper prices.

Mr Richard Kayombo, TRA’s director of taxpayers’ education, says the sharp drop is highly associated with the rampant piracy of music and film products.

“We need support from the media, artistes and ordinary Tanzanians. We must stop people from buying CDs and DVDs that do not have TRA stamps because it is illegal,’’ he says.

In Tanzania, all genuine CDs and DVDs are required to have TRA stamps that serve as confirmation that tax has been paid. Each stamp costs Sh50.

Piracy has taken its toll not only on the taxman. Local artistes have also suffered the heaviest impact of the illicit business.

For long time, Tanzanian artistes, especially musicians, have been complaining about rampant piracy. Apparently, there hasn’t been much relief.

From highly-rated, talented musicians like famous Bongo Flava artistes Diamond, Ali Kiba, Mwana FA, Harmonize, Yamoto Band, Darasa, Ben Paul, Msaga Sumu and Man Fongo to the up-and-coming artistes, the effect of piracy is bigger than ordinarily reported.

Famous gospel musicians like Rose Muhando and Christina Shusho whose work goes beyond the borders have also been at the receiving end of pirates who cash in on the rush for cheaper CDs and DVDs in the market.

The high levels of piracy in the country means that most of these famous artistes earn little, and contribute much less to the national coffers.

A recent random survey conducted by this reporter to determine the extent of piracy involved 30 vendors in Dar es Salaam, around Ubungo Terminal, Tazara, Kariakoo, Mbagala Rangi Tatu and Ilala Boma. The majority of them were selling pirated CDs and DVDs.

A genuine CD or DVD is sold at between Sh6,000 and Sh20,000 in a retail shop, but one can get a counterfeit form anything between Sh1,500 and Sh3,000 per copy. Some are sold at Sh4,000.

It’s a well-organised racket. The vendors would not reveal the source of their products, or explain why their CDs and DVDs had no TRA stamp. They have items from local and international musicians, but Diamond and Ali Kiba’s are a must-have for all vendors due to high demand.

A Diamond CD dubbed ‘All Hits of Diamond’, which has almost all of his best songs including the latest ‘Salome’, is sold at Sh4,000. These CDs move faster in volumes because of the “reasonable” price. But the musician will have no single shilling from the sale.

“You cannot get a CD with a TRA stamp here, but I can assure you that this one is also not fake,’’ said Alex Mkamba, a vendor at Ubungo Terminal, while showing this reporter a Diamond Platinum CD.

Mr John Kitime, a veteran dance musician, contends that the selling of counterfeit musical and video products only come after the drugs on the list of illicit, non-tax paying businesses the world over.

“It is a business that involves rich people… a worldwide problem. People are not paying tax and is hard to trace them,”’ says Mr Kitime, who is the former vice chairman of the Tanzania Dance Music Association (Chamudata).

Unlike TRA that has official figures that can help monitor trends in piracy, the losses incurred by artistes can hardly be determined because of the lack of statistics.

Ms Doreen Sinare, chief executive officer of the Copyright Society of Tanzania (Cosota), estimates that about 75 to 80 per cent of music sold in Tanzania is pirated.

According to her, the problem is compounded by the fact that there are loopholes in the country’s laws that make it practically impossible to stop piracy.

“We are trying to push for the amendment of the laws,” says Ms Sinare, who is entrusted with the responsibility to enforce the law that protects artistic works. “The current fine for those who infringe copyright does not exceed Sh10 million; it’s very little for a person whose business goes into billions.”

In Tanzania, the enforcement of copyright is under the Copyright and Neighbouring Right Act of 1999 that replaced an outdated law of 1966.

Anti-piracy operations

Cosota has been conducting anti-piracy operations with other stakeholders, including TRA. Offenders are taken to court and later their counterfeit CDs, DVDs and devices are destroyed by a court order. In 2012, they destroyed seven tonnes of counterfeit CDs and DVDs worth Sh170 million (about $81,000).

But for the likes of Diamond and Ali Kiba, it’s suffering home and away. Far from home, pirated CDs and DVDs by famous Tanzanian artistes have over the years found their way into neighbouring countries – mainly Kenya and Uganda where there is a fair market for them.

In these countries, you can get selected songs of your choice in a pirated CD, DVD or flash disk without having any fear of being caught by authorities.

At the busy Owino Market in Kampala, English and Luganda are the most commonly spoken languages, yet Kiswahili music from Tanzania has broken the language barriers, and is used to attract customers.

I met Mr Ephraim Waswa, a vendor selling music CDs and DVDs at the market, who even sang Ali Kiba’s song ‘Mwana’ and Diamond’s ‘Utanipenda’ as he tried to convince me to buy the pirated products.

Mr Waswa is one of the thousands of youths in Uganda who earn their daily bread by selling counterfeit CDs and DVDs, be it from local or international musicians.

A random survey I conducted among 30 vendors aged between 18 and 35 around Kampala showed that all were selling counterfeit music CDs and DVDs at between 50 cents and $1 (Sh1,000 and Sh2,000).

Besides Diamond and Ali Kiba, the vendors also know much about the once famous Tanzanian artistes, Mr Nice and Saida Kalori. Ms Kalori is still remembered from her record show at Nakivubo Stadium in early 2000’s.

Even Ugandan artistes are suffering from the vice.

In one incident, Nince Henry, a Ugandan musician, was once shocked to see his upcoming album already on the shelves at a Kampala shopping mall, while he was still working on the song.

“I found a complete CD with the wrong title ‘Omukyala Bamukwata’ while I was planning to name it ‘Mpola Mpola’, the name of my popular song. The matter is still in court,” he says.

Mr Nince, who doesn’t believe there are genuine CDs and DVDs in Uganda, advises the government to work with artistes in fighting piracy because it is not a fight that can end in a day.

Another popular Ugandan musician, Bebe Cool, says the government has to teach people the importance of paying taxes right from school, and encourage the same at the family level.

“People should be educated on what tax does for them. They should be made aware that if they buy genuine CDs and DVDs that are taxed, their money will go back to improving social services; it does not benefit Bebe Cool alone, but will go back to Mulago Hospital and help fellow Ugandans,” he says. Mulago is a major referral hospital in Kampala.

Piracy in Uganda is as serious as it is in Tanzania.

Mr James Wasula, chief executive officer of the Uganda Performing Rights Society (UPRS), says genuine products are now very few, and are sold at a retail price of $5 up to $15 (Sh10,000 to Sh30,000).

The 3,000-member UPRS has been mandated to promoting copyright and fighting piracy with over 3,000 members. It estimates that 95 per cent of CDs and DVDs sold in the country are pirated.

In April 2003, Mr Wasula revealed that Ugandan musicians were losing USh16 billion ($ 4.4 million), and the government USh4.7 billion ($ 1.3 million) due to piracy. Figures could be higher by now.

As part of its anti-piracy operations, UPRS, which in 2015 shared $27,000 (Sh56.7 million) as royalties to its members, has introduced weekly inspections. It has so far dealt with four cases, two still in the early stages and two decided. They lost one.

Mr Arthur Mpeirwe, a lawyer who specialised in copyright and intellectual property, says despite the fact that Uganda has a new copyright law (of 2006), there has been resistance in implementing it from those who claim to lack awareness. But to Mr Mpairwe, that is just an excuse to benefit from piracy.

“Musicians need to have a unified voice and should consider the commercial aspect of music, and not just doing music for fun,” he says advising the government to train prosecutors and custom officers to identify pirated works.

Like in Uganda and back home, Tanzanian artistes are also losing a lot to piracy in Kenya.

A random survey involving 20 vendors in Nairobi in places like River Road shows that Diamond and Ali Kiba top the list of famous musicians whose works have a market in the Kenyan capital.

Though the vendors do not have recently-released albums, the old counterfeit CDs and DVDs are as cheap as 50 cents and $1, respectively.

Kenya Music Copyright Society (MCSK) chief executive Carol Simiyu estimates that 85 per cent of musical CDs and DVDs sold in Kenya are pirated, including those from Tanzania.

MCSK operates under the copyright law of 2001. Before that, Kenya was depending on treaties from international bodies, such as the World Intellectual Properties Organisation (Wipo), to enforce copyright matters.

But the enforcement of copyright in Kenya is done by the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo), a department in the office of the Attorney General.

Tough battle

Mr Mutegi Rinkanya, a senior copyright inspector at Kecobo, says fighting music piracy is a tough battle.

“We have many copyright cases that are yet to be decided. We depend on five prosecutors only who are also assigned other duties,” he says.

In March 2016, Kecobo destroyed two tonnes of fake CDs, DVDs and other music items both worth over $30,000.

Gospel singers Christine Shusho and Rosemary Muhando are among the famous Tanzanian artistes whose pirated work is openly sold in Kenya, not only in Nairobi, but even in other big cities like Kisumu.

In separate interviews with The Citizen, Ms Muhando and Ms Shusho said they were aware of their popularity in Kenya, but regretted the levels of piracy, and how it had denied them their dues.

There is now a sense of helplessness.

“I will be happy if you could help; I know music piracy is not only in Kenya, even here in Tanzania, it is a very serious problem, but there is nothing else to do,’’ says Ms Muhando.

But Kenyan musician, Nameless, believes that things could change once the government started looking at music as potential major source of income for the treasury.

“They should help musicians to grow, music can contribute to the national budget,” says Nameless.

Mr Salam Sharaf, Diamond Platinumz’s manager says they haven’t produced any CD or DVD for some time now, which means much of what is still circulating in the market is counterfeit.

“All you see are pirated products,” he says.

Ali Kiba’s manager, Mr Seven Mosha, corroborates.

“This is a challenge we face, and that is why our focus now is on digital business; we are moving with technology, physical sales are hard because of high levels of piracy.”

Mr Innocent Nganyagwa, ‘Ras Inno’ reggae artiste and former assistant secretary general of the now-defunct Tanzania Music Copyright Association (TMCA), says the government needs to invest enough resources in Cosota to fight piracy.

“Piracy is big business, but Cosota is just a small department in the Ministry of Trade and Industry with inadequate resources. With a situation like this, they will never succeed in fighting piracy,” he says.

Last year, the government swooped on buildings in the busy Kariakoo market from where the CDs and DVDs were supplied.

Information, Culture, Arts and Sports minister Nape Nnauye led the team that made several impromptu visits and ordered the closure of shops where music was duplicated. Those behind the business were dragged to courts.

However, the government has not said how many people were arrested during the highly-publicised raids, or what legal measures were taken against them.

Mr Nnauye told The Citizen that they are compiling the report that would soon be released to the public.

“We want this business (piracy) killed, artists need to enjoy their work,” said the minister.

On amending the current copyright law, the minister said the government agreed, a process to collect opinion from the stakeholders was underway.

“We are involving all groups, including producers, distributors, actors and camera operators so we can prepare a policy before creating a law. We need to work together from the beginning so that no one is left out,” he said.

Additional reporting by Fredrick Nwaka