WATANI International 20 September 2009
In Egypt, where devoutness is the order of the day, community service takes on wide proportions. Persons aspiring to be helpful and serve others could go to all lengths; at times their efforts are definitely misguided. No where is this more evident than in the case of the dissemination of religious media material. Copts are notorious for their keenness to follow Christian satellite channels and to purchase DVDs, CDs and cassettes of sermons, hymns, and films. Individuals are fond of acquiring the widest variety of hymns and the latest films featuring tales of the saints and martyrs.
With an eye to helping the needy access productions which may otherwise be unaffordable, some volunteers make haste to buy the CDs of the most recent hymns or films and upload them to a forum or blog. They then e-mail the link to a wide number people ‘to spread the word’, asking them to “pray for the continuity of the service”. Obviously, they have not the least realisation that they are using up other people’s time and money. They would be stunned to find out they have joined the hated clan of media pirates.
Earlier this month a number of Coptic production companies held a seminar under the slogan ‘One Hand’ to find practical solutions to the problems resulting from media piracy.
Depriving producers
The half-day seminar was attended by a host of producers, composers and singers. Many vociferously opposed illegal downloading since it deprives producers of collecting the royalties that they need to survive, but others insisted it was the only way for the poor to access such material. However, all the participants agreed on the necessity of holding larger and more comprehensive meetings to increase awareness of the harm caused to producers by the activities of bloggers and forum administrators.
“The seminar came in the wake of the widespread theft of Coptic artistic works by websites and forums, which falls foul of intellectual property law,” said Victor Farouq, owner of a Coptic production company. He said the seminar was held to create means of cooperation between production companies and websites and to convince the latter to stop broadcasting works without approval from the production company.
Obviously, the discussions had a positive effect. Some websites which have been notorious for disseminating unsolicited material such as ‘Pope Kyrillos’ and ‘Saints Friendship Forum’ have agreed on a voluntary ban and promised to take the idea to others. They also decided to cancel the sections of the songs and the films and prevent any of their members from uploading them, or even posting a link to them. They proposed using their websites and forums to show specific parts of the films as trailers to attract audiences.
Not a service
Farouq pointed to the committee set up by ecclesiastical producers to ban stealing Christian works by uploading them to the Internet, reminding of the decree issued by Pope Shenouda III and the Holy Synod stating that the practice was theft, not a service or a favour to others. On the other hand, the Intellectual Property Law criminalises the dissemination of any work on the Internet, and punishes the criminal by imprisonment for not less than three months and a compensation fine of not less than EGP10,000.
Warnings and counsels will be placed on several websites and forums to warn that action will be taken and offences reported to the police department looking into Internet crime. Anyone uploading material, and the website administration, will be legally responsible for future acts of theft.
To combat piracy, a Facebook group has emerged calling itself, “No for Stealing Christian Media”. Another containing countless links to songs and films has been cancelled.
Last February Anba Martirus, Bishop General and head of the ecumenical committee for education and Christian media, held a press conference at the church of the Holy Virgin in Mahmasha, Cairo, to announce that the Church opposed Internet piracy. He also declared that the committee objected to downloading or uploading any media material and was informing churches to stop its illegal spread.