JEDDAH, 13 December 2005 — The day after the induction of Saudi Arabia into the WTO, Arabic daily Okaz ran a Ministry of Information official notice warning against copyright violations. The notice cited severe penalties including imprisonment for one year and fines reaching SR500,000 for anyone convicted of reproducing a copyrighted item. Despite the stiff warning, many establishments are still making a killing by way of trading in pirated goods.
For the past two years, most bookstores and stationery suppliers in the Kingdom have made it known to their customers by way of posted notices that they will not photocopy any copyrighted materials as not to break the law. However, as many university students know first-hand, there are still certain places near the university where copyrighted items can be photocopied — but at a higher copying price and under-the-counter.
Similarly, many stores selling video game consoles and electronics in Jeddah have on display original games imported from the manufacturer, but under-the-counter there are full working original-quality pirated versions available at just 20 percent or less than their original counterparts.
At City Center on Madinah Road, pirated computer software is available if one asks around. The average price for a pirated program there is SR15 — a small price compared to an original copy that is as high as SR2,000.
Within walking distance of the Tahlia Street Danube, Arab News found three businesses trading in pirated Sony PlayStation and X-Box games. With some original games priced at SR280, the pirated copies priced at just SR20 were the most popular.
“Most people don’t want to pay the full price and don’t mind waiting an extra few days for the newly released games to be pirated and made available. Most kids don’t care about who is making a profit, they just want to play the game,” one merchant told Arab News.
“In the past we were pretty open about it, but now with the WTO we have to be careful,” said another games merchant in Al-Rawdah District as he pulled out a catalog containing more than 150 pirated game titles, including some just released in the US.
DVDs are the most sought after pirated items. Priced between SR18 and SR25, these uncensored DVDs arrive straight from Malaysia.
Over the past three months, those who purchase the pirated DVDs have been surprised to find that their latest movie selections — even those released in theaters around the world less than three weeks ago — are available on DVD with Arabic subtitles.
Many Jeddah residents know that Al-Khalediyah District’s Filipino Souq is the place to go for pirated DVD copies of movies recently released in American theaters. On any given day after Isha prayers, several men carrying plastic bags containing hundreds of DVDs linger between the parked cars awaiting customers to drive by.
Frequent raids by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) have led to the arrest of many of these vendors, but they are back within a few days after being released.
Jamal is one such vendor who does most of his business by phone after having been arrested twice.
“My customers now call me and I tell them where to meet me near the Filipino Souq. I get in their car; we drive away from the souq and park. They make their selection, pay me and drop me back where they picked me up. All this sneaking around makes me feel like I’m selling drugs or something like that, but all I do is provide entertainment,” he said.
