A former journalist, diplomat, Minister of Information, and President of the Higher Council for Communication in Burkina Faso, Béatrice Damiba is the president of Convergence, a pan-African association created in 2015 to combat audiovisual piracy.
The association's legal headquarters are located in Abidjan and it currently has around 30 members, including private and public entities/groups, organizations, and institutions such as CANAL+, FESPACO, and the Ecrans Noirs Festival.
What are your activities?
Our mission is to protect and promote creators and publishers in the audiovisual landscape on the African continent, to protect their rights across the entire audiovisual and cinematographic landscape, including the music industry.
To fulfill our mission, we focus on information, awareness, and training. Many people are familiar with piracy in general, but many do not realize the issues it represents. When we talk about audiovisual piracy, we are dealing with something intangible, something that can sometimes be difficult to grasp in its entirety. We characterize this piracy as theft, but this is not necessarily the case for some, even though it does represent theft of intangible and intellectual property. The African public needs to be made aware of this issue.
We are also raising awareness among industry players who are not necessarily aware of their rights or the extent of piracy on the continent. We also want to draw the attention of governments, as there is a real loss of revenue (taxation, customs duties). And finally, the general public and consumers, who are stakeholders in this scourge.
What motivated the creation of this association?
As President of the Higher Council for Communication, I have had to arbitrate numerous cases of broadcasting rights piracy between players in the television world. These various disputes reinforced my belief that a structure dedicated to combating this piracy needed to be put in place.
In terms of figures, how much does audiovisual piracy cost the continent?
We do not cover the entire continent, but according to studies, we estimate that audiovisual piracy causes losses of 120 billion CFA francs per year for French-speaking countries. We know that in some countries, more than 70% of pay-TV subscriptions are created through informal distribution networks.
What are the challenges of audiovisual piracy?
From a global perspective, audiovisual piracy represents a real loss for the economies of African countries, as huge sums of money are at stake. It is also a real loss for the audiovisual sector, whose development is directly impacted. Rights holders do not enjoy the fruits of their labor.
With this association, we want to draw attention to these various issues that impact the sector on the continent, amplified by the rise of the internet. To confront stakeholders with this problem, we organize meetings, seminars, workshops, panels, and round tables. We also take part in events such as the one recently held in Yaoundé, where we co-organized the first international seminar on combating the piracy of audiovisual content via the internet on November 25 and 26.
Beyond events, speeches, and awareness campaigns, we are trying to conduct studies because we sorely lack information and data on the real situation. We need statistics to be more convincing and to persuade stakeholders and governments to take these issues seriously, to take technological developments into account, and to put in place an appropriate legal framework.
Piracy hinders the proper development of audiovisual production and also the development of countries in general, since the audiovisual sector contributes economically to this development. The audiovisual sector is a vehicle for culture, and this culture is fundamental to the development of countries, even if its contribution is often minimized.
What conclusions can you draw from these first few years of action?
The more we fight against piracy on the continent, the more we will contribute to Africa's social and economic development through the audiovisual sector and culture.
In terms of results, after these few years of action, we can see that there is great interest in our work on the part of stakeholders. We feel that creators, content publishers, producers, and musicians are interested in the fight we are waging. This is encouraging.
Will you be speaking out about audiovisual piracy in the near future?
The next event we are preparing will take place in early 2020 in Dakar, where we plan to organize a symposium to capture the attention of the West African public. Experts, stakeholders, organizations, and public institutions will speak on the various issues surrounding audiovisual piracy.
In light of these issues, how do you see the future of the African audiovisual and film ecosystem?
I am an optimist by nature. I believe that if everyone becomes aware of the phenomenon of audiovisual piracy and its implications, we will be able to take action and contribute to the development and prosperity of the audiovisual sector. Globally, in all regions, a similar fight is being waged and is bearing fruit. In Africa, too, we will succeed in reversing the trend and curbing the phenomenon. We can be optimistic about the future of audiovisual media on the continent, especially as the sector is showing great dynamism and creativity, driven by the advent of DTT.