Musicians getting paid

Piracy is a big problem in Sierra Leone. Go by most main streets in Sierra Leone and you see young boys clutching a collection of home made CDs, mostly compilations, including music by both foreign and Sierra Leonean musicians.

Problem is, the real investors in the music are not getting their return. The musicians, producers, record labels and all those who depend on music - well, depend on it legally, that is - are being shafted by the pirates.

FoSMIS was formed to handle such issues and seem to be making much progress on the piracy front. The government of the day are keen to bring the intellectual property laws into the 21st century and that's a good thing. However, no one seems to be focused on the thing that will bring the real cash to the musicians, government and all relevant stakeholers.

How do you enforce anti-piracy laws on the streets of Sierra Leone? That's the billion dollar question.

I have been working on a system for enforcing anti-piracy measures for quite a few years now - since 2005 - after seeing the damage that piracy did to Emmerson's Borbor Bele album.

The system, which incorporates a security seal, enforcers and a helpline, has been piloted and it works. The focus now is to bring it into effect in the Sierra Leone marketplace as soon as possible.

Partners have been identified and we are very optimistic that the system will yeild great dividends.