Government joins war on pirate CD´s

The Balearic government yesterday threw all its weight behind the war against the pirate compact disc industry. Balearic president Francesc Antich said that the government fully supports the battle against “music piracy” and intends to launch an awareness campaign. To mark Day Without Music, Antich and the Ministers for Commerce, Education and Industry met with members of the General Society of Editors and Autors (SGAE) to discuss the situation and how best to go about removing the pirate compact discs from the public domain. A number of leading Majorca musicians also attended the meeting. Last year over 20'000 pirate compact discs were seized in Spain, with the illegal music industry now worth some 35.000 million pesetas a year, all at the cost of the music industry and musicians. Antich announced that an awareness campaign will be launched and called for the police to step up their inspections at local markets and keep a closer eye on street vendors. Over the past few months, Local Police forces have confiscated a large number of pirate compact discs being sold at local markets, but they know that it is just the tip of the iceberg and the bulk of the pirate discs are sold in bars and clubs.