DVD piracy is ‘losing cinemas millions’

CYPRUS: LOCAL film distributors yesterday warned the public and law enforcers that piracy in Cyprus was reaching crisis proportions.

K-Cineplex owner Dimis Karapatakis argued that millions had been invested in the film industry but piracy was ruining business. Local distributors compared the influx of DVD pirated copies on the market to the 1980s cinema crisis when bootleg videos were sold on every corner.

“The laws are not respected. Films not yet out in Europe can be found all over the island in kiosks or video clubs for just a few pounds. It’s unacceptable,” said Karapatakis.

He said thousands of music CDs, DVDs and games are floating around Cyprus, while in the last year alone, up to 70,000 DVDs were confiscated by police. For every original DVD, there is a pirated copy, he added.

Asked how much the cinema industry was losing each year from pirated movies, he replied: “Put it this way, the state loses around £3 million a year on lost VAT returns.”

The Cyprus Federation Against Copyright Theft (CyFACT) called on the government to recognise the need for effective protection of intellectual property rights. CyFACT’s lawyer Achilleas Deme- triades reminded law enforcement agencies that violation of copyright laws was a criminal offence.

One local distributor said cinema ticket sales were reaching the same proportions as those during the 1980s crisis when video piracy took off in Cyprus. “If something doesn’t happen to stop this, we will have serious problems. I am not prepared to relive those times,” said the owner of Zena Palace cinema in Nicosia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.