Movie directors on Monday asked that stakeholders embark on sensitisation of Nigerians as a solution to curb the menace piracy in the country.

The movie directors spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

One of the directors, Temple Golden, said that piracy could be solved when the populace is properly sensitised on the implications of the act.

He said Nigerians should be made to understand that movies are people’s intellectual properties, and must not be tampered with.

He advised the federal government to put into use a functional taskforce that will always raid the markets where piracy is constantly practised, pick the pirates and make them face the wrath of the law.

“Government needs to educate the society that the act of piracy is bad, films in the past have earned some foreign currencies for the nation and it is still capable of doing same if piracy can be dealt with,” Mr Golden suggested. 

Another movie director, Oladimeji Abidakun, said that pirates should be engaged as legal movie marketers as a way to tackle the issues of piracy. 

Mr Abidakun said this will enable the movie producers have some returns on their investments likewise the pirates would be positively engaged.

“With the experience garnered while being a member of the taskforce before now, I believe engaging the movie pirates as legal movie marketers will solve the problem.

“They are engaging in piracy in the quest to get a means of livelihood so being a marketer will put some money in their pocket and duplicating movies will no longer be attractive to them,” he said.

Similarly, movie director and script writer Francis Abang, said the federal government must take full ownership of every movie produced in the country, such that each movie gets an official seal.

Mr Abang said the seal will protect the movies from being duplicated and whoever is caught duplicating such would be made to face the wrath of the law.

He called on the federal government to give its full support to the industry as enjoyed by their colleagues in other climes.

“Ghanawood which could not be compared with Nollywood is now blazing the trail because the Ghana government is fully supporting the industry.

“Nigerian actors should also enjoy some support from our government to improve on the industry, if government is truly serious, piracy would have been a solved problem,” he said.

(NAN)