So the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) recently launched an anti-piracy campaign called “Shoot the Pirate.” In support of it, many artists in the South African creative industries went out on the streets to confront the pirate vendors selling their works. Things didn’t go as planned.
Artist groups and their fans ended up engaging in brawls with pirates and their supporters, brawls which sent a few artists to the hospital and others to the police station. Not very surprising considering the name of the campaign and artist to pirate ratios. But it gets worse.
Angered by what they call “infringement of our economic rights”, Creative Workers Union of South Africa president Mabutho “Kid” Sithole said some of the entertainers in both television and music had taken a decision to take the fight to both the street vendors who sell their products and manufacturers.
“We were invited to a TV show last week and the guys were clearly enraged at seeing their products sold cheaply on the streets.
“This is their hard work and people are making a living out of it without their authorisation. We want the government to show the same determination on piracy as they do to rhino poaching,” he said.
Poet Mzwakhe Mbuli warned: “We will now fight violence with violence. Artists get injured when they are out campaigning against this crime. Enough is enough,” Mbuli said.
Stay classy, African artists. Violence will surely get people to pay for your works.
PS: A poet involved in a fight against piracy? Who pirates poetry?
