What Nollywood can learn from its pirates

A FEW weeks ago, I attended yet another talk-shop on issues surrounding the endemic piracy of Nollywood film on dvd. Of course the increasing inventiveness of the dvd pirates continues to take new and somewhat intricate dimensions that not only leave Nollywood helpless, but equally challenge the ways Nollywood Producers do their business going into the future.

The industry in Nigeria and across Africa loses hundreds of millions of Dollars annually to Piracy. The government says they are aware of it. The government says they are concerned about it. But the government isnt doing a lot about it. Yes, there is lip service to containing the problem of piracy but government’s own negligence is directly creating the gaps for piracy to thrive on a massive scale. Consider all our porous borders that have not effectively checked the importation of large-scale duplicating machines all over the place. Consider the poor harmony between the law enforcement agencies i.e. Police, Customs, Immigration, Judiciary. Consider the under-resourced enforcements of piracy laws and statutes. Consider the non-deterrent sentences imposed by courts on the few piracy cases that actually get prosecuted. You will come to the fair conclusion that that the things left undone disprove our seriousness about tackling the piracy problem. But beyond  loud acclamations and  accusations at seminars and conferences, not much else seems to really happen in concrete terms for the big-time dvd pirates to worry about. Perhaps it is time for a different approach with a little more creative thinking that studies the landscape with a view to learning from the structure and strategies of the pirates themselves.

A report for the Motion Picture Association (in America) estimates that the studios lost $6.1 billion a year and that the industry as a whole (theatres, cable T.V. etc included) lost $18.2 billion. In the UK, a friendlier approach is being adopted to the piracy problem as the Trust for Internet Piracy Awareness in the UK has changed its campaign from the aggressive and accusatory ‘Piracy is Theft’ adverts to a milder ‘thank you for supporting the British film industry by not turning to illegal downloading’. Duncan James, the Director of the film recently posted on his twitter page “Dear BitTorrenters… so pleased Moon is popular with you; 40,000 active seeds can’t be wrong! One thing, will you please buy the DVD as well?” In Nigeria filmmakers like Tunde Kelani have constantly been confronted by pirates who consider his anti-pirate stance as overbearing.

In the case of Nigeria, ranked as the third highest piracy country in the world behind India and China, the activities of pirates have thrived on the gaps that movie producers have created by their straight-to-dvd model of distribution. Pirates take advantage of the weak distribution channels; they understand that the business of movies is tied to population and the ability to bring contents to them every time at a price that they can afford conveniently. They are resourceful and connect with the mass grassroots’ audience using unorthodox mediums that grassroot audiences are familiar with; therefore, they always have a ready market and a strategy that the movie owner is yet to figure out.

The inconvenient truth of the piracy debate is that Nollywood got its popularity in parts from the activities of the same pirates and it might as well be one of the most potent opportunities for exposure open to an emerging filmmaker in Nigeria today. The activities of the pirates also have helped in certain ways to build the star system in the Nigerian movie industry today, and it continues to build the Nollywood brand and give it name recognition while satisfying the demands of its audience both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

It is undeniable that the pirates operate a model that is highly functional, effective, and successful. The small problem, however, is that it denies the intellectual property owner a return and therefore it IS illegal. Should the Producer, who is the rightful intellectual property owner attempt an understanding of this model and incorporate it into his own distribution and marketing strategy, it not only ceases to be illegal, it becomes a veritable option to transform the distribution malaise of the industry.

If we will eliminate the pirates, we must begin to understudy and understand the structural solutions that their model thrives on. The first point of business for the pirate is to identify loose ends in

the distribution channel and promptly move in to close the gap. They operate a system that thoroughly considers all factors in the demand and supply relations of the movie business: they make sure that DVD playback machines are available at a very affordable cost, raising the demand for DVD entertainment through a structured network that finds the people at the grassroots who demand for this kind of entertainment. Demand and supply becomes intricate and vibrant.

It is also important to consider the options that new media presents. Currently many Nollywood films are already consumed online without the consent of the copyright owners; this means that there is an expansion in the demand spectrum that can be turned around to the advantage of the movie maker. First, online movie streaming helps to eliminate the middle man in the distribution chain, and the audience can effectively get content directly and conveniently. Second, if movie makers make a business out of this platforms, it will immensely reduce the demand for DVD that is the strong product of movie piracy in Nigeria. Mobile devices are the platform of the future, and Nollywood must deliberately build and nurture these audience.

Current technology platforms are evolving rapidly, the viewing habit of the audience, particularly the youth is changing, and with 44million active internet users every day in Nigeria the possibilities of online distribution is endless. It is all about access. Filmmakers in Nigeria must understand that, for every viewer that is not reached as a result of our weak distribution model, a market has been created for a pirate. It is therefore imperative that film entrepreneurs become more resourceful in their marketing and distribution strategies. There are options to be explored, particularly at the grassroots level. Producers should consider the possibilities in mobile cinemas that can take movies to the markets, schools, village squares, churches and any such other public places for screening purposes. 

We cannot afford to, and must not imagine that aggressive Policing or enforcement of laws strictly on the merit of their legal mandates will or can eliminate the pirate. The battle against piracy will only be won at the level of innovative thinking.

• Article was first published at a function organised by the Nigeria Copyright Commission, NCC on Nollywood and Piracy.

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