JEDDAH, 22 April 2003 — Pirated DVDs are on sale at several locations in the city. Often copies of new movies still showing in theaters in the United States and Europe, they are very popular among young Saudis who gather around individuals (Saudis or Africans) in front of supermarkets and in souks.
A Saudi businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Arab News the pirated DVDs are good business. “Both Saudis and expats are keen to buy the newest movies on DVD, especially young people, who are my main customers,” he said.
“I think the huge demand for these copies is caused by the lack of any local source for new and uncensored movies. All the local dealers bring the movies out a year late at a much higher price, and the choice is very limited.”
He refused to reveal the source of his DVDs. “All I can say is that we have a large collection of new movies, and 95 percent of the copies are as clear as the originals.”
Arab News put it to him that selling pirated copies was illegal. “If I sold these DVDs in a country where the originals are legally available then it would be a crime,” he said. “But there are no original copies in the market.”
These DVDs sell for between SR30 and SR60, depending on the number of copies of each movie the vendors expect to sell.
The huge demand for the DVDs demonstrates how hungry locals are for the latest movies. A young Saudi customer in front of a supermarket in Al-Rawdah district had chosen five DVDs already when he spoke to Arab News.
“We are very interested in watching the latest movies,” he said. “Before we had these DVDs we used to wait for the summer vacations, when we could travel and watch the movies in theaters abroad. We couldn’t buy DVDs abroad and watch them at home because we knew they might be taken from us at the airport.
“Now these people provide us with new movies, uncensored and very cheaply,” he added.
He said local video stores had only limited collections. “They’re very expensive and they’re censored. We don’t like censored copies because the cuts can affect the story of the movie.
“If there were big video stores offering a wide uncensored selection we would go there,” he added.
