Posted by Police in Niger have arrested seven counterfeiters and seized a significant consignment of pirated musical productions comprising several hundred audio cassettes, video CDs and duplication equipment, the Niger copyright office (BNDA) told APA on Tuesday. Some 1,424 audio cassettes, 7,013 CD, 863 VCDs and a disc burner were seized in the various markets of Niamey, the capital, BNDA director Ganda Tahirou said.
According to him, shopping centers in various areas of the country were also inspected at the end of August which ended with the seizure of some 718 cassettes and 3 CDs in Dosso (south), more than 1,000 cassettes and CDs in Gaya (not far from Nigeria and Benin), and 1,200 others in Konni (south-east).
In the same way, 1,110 cassettes, 30 CDs and 1 burner software were confiscated in Maradi (center-east) whereas 463 cassettes including 303 audio, 160 CDs and 3 burner computers were confiscated in the town of Zinder, 900km east of Niamey.
“The operation will continue and extend to the other towns of our country,” Mr. Ganda affirmed, adding that seven people accomplice to piracy of musical works were arrested during the police raid.
A very widespread phenomenon in Niger, musical piracy is an offense provided for and sanctioned by the criminal law since the adoption in 1993 of a copyright law and the creation in 1995 of the BNDA which opened in 1997.
According to the Nigerien copyright law, the seized products will be burnt whereas the offenders incur various sanctions going from one to three months imprisonment, and three months to one year in the event of a second offense with a fine between CFA 50,000 and CFA 500,000.
Source African Press Agency
