Chairman of the Spicemas Corporation, Alister Bain says that the management of the corporation has not given permission to any company or individual to sell DVDs of any carnival event. Those who are offering carnival shows for sale are committing a criminal offence which violates the copyright legislation.
“The Board of the corporation never gave permission for the resale of carnival shows on DVDs. The commercial sale of these shows is an act of piracy and we will look into it,” said Bain who admits that he became aware of the sale of the shows by concerned persons.
Promising that the necessary action will be taken ‘to deal with the matter,’ Bain advises that persons should not purchase the DVDs because they will be purchasing an illegal product.
The Grenada Copyright legislation which came into effect on 26 April 2012 states that it is an offence to pirate intellectual property that is copyright. The legislation states that criminal offences can be heard in the magistrate court, and a person who commits an infringement of a right protected for profit making purposes knowing or having reason to believe that he is committing an infringement, is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding EC$50,000 and to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years.
The legislation also explains that the fine shall be fixed by the magistrate taking into particular account the defendant’s profits attributable to the infringement. “The magistrate shall have the authority to increase up to double the penalty,” the law states.
Copyright is a property right which subsists of literary and artistic works that are original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain. Works shall be protected by the sole fact of their creation and irrespective of their mode or form of expression as well as their content, quality and purpose. Work of carnival is among the work that receives protection under the legislation.
By Linda Straker
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