The new copyright law is designed to protect intellectual property such as books, designer clothes, computer programs and DVDs. There would be no need to combat piracy if it did not exist — but sadly, it exists in plenty in the Kingdom. As we all know, the country is awash with fake and pirated goods. Anyone can get hold of cheap, illegal copies of computer programs or CDs if they want. That this is true of many other countries in the world is no reason why the situation should be allowed to continue.
In fact a law was brought in against piracy 13 years ago. But that did not stop pirated CDs or fake watches being sold in extremely large numbers. The fact that a new law has been introduced is an admission that the old one did not work. Laws are never enough in themselves. They need to be enforced. All the evidence suggests that the reason the last law on piracy did not work was because it was inadequately enforced.
There is undoubtedly a will to combat piracy, not least because until effective measures are in place to control it, the Kingdom will not be able to join the WTO, nor will the GCC be able to sign a free-tariff deal with the EU. This has to be about more than economic self-interest, however. Stealing someone’s invention is as much theft as stealing someone’s car — although, incomprehensibly, there are people here, as anywhere else, who cannot get their minds round that fact and who readily buy pirated products.
Yet they would rightly baulk at buying a stolen car just because it was cheaper.
There are two other reasons why piracy must be crushed.
It steals jobs from those in legitimate industries and it can do physical harm. You will not kill yourself listening to a fake CD but you could if the tires you buy turn out to be fakes, just as you might do lasting damage to your skin if the expensive French perfume you bought turned out to be made by crooks who did not know one chemical from another.
Last year, the authorities reported that piracy of computer programs dropped by 27 percent. That is good news, although no one really knows the full extent of piracy. It is not, after all, an industry that publicizes its sales figures.
If the new law is to succeed where the old one failed, it will have to be properly enforced. It will require a considerably larger force than exists at present of unimpeachable, fully trained investigators who can keep a constant eye on what is being sold across the Kingdom. It also involves educating the public about the dangers and wrongs of buying what are effectively stolen goods. Until the public shuns them they will continue to be made.
