COPYRIGHT-LESS!
(Publication Date: January 31, 2007)
Those in government use every
opportunity to talk about what they have done.
I appreciate and respect
them.
But what about what they have not done and/or have been unable to do?
***
Making dreams come true.
Bringing dreams before our eyes.
Offering ideas
about the future.
Teaching us everything about
the depths of space—and even about aliens. (Whether true or false.)
Inspiring “conspiracy theories”
with the depth of their subject matter.
Sharing historical details.
Guiding the lives of many
people and leading them to make decisions.
I am trying to describe the one
art form, more powerful than many of the sentences I will write here, that can have a direct effect on the human brain.
Cinema...
*
Yesterday, I also attended the press conference held at the Lefkoşa Lemar Cinema theaters.
Those who follow the “Sinekritik” page in your newspaper Vatan at weekends and my website know how interested I am in cinema.
At yesterday’s press
conference, İbrahim Nuralış, representing Lemar Cineplex cinemas, and Mr. Ali Can, representing Galleria Cinema Club, made a joint statement.
I will not go into the details
of their statements.
I can say this much:
If the current situation continues,
that is, if the Copyright Law is not passed, we will no longer be able to see in our cinemas the films we have had the opportunity to watch at the same time as the rest of the world.
This is because the distribution companies that supply copies of films to these two companies operating in our country know that the films are shown on our country’s TV channels before they are screened in cinemas, and that these films are available at the CD&Dvd Centers now found on almost every street corner.
Worse still, those distribution companies also know that our country has no law on this matter.
Despite everything, they were sending copies of films to our country in the hope that one day a law would be passed on this matter; but from yesterday’s press conference, it seems that the films we have had the opportunity to watch at the same time as the rest of the world will, in the near future, no longer be available in cinemas.
This is very bad news for us—that is,
for those who go to the cinema and watch films in theaters.
There is also the matter of the business owners.
Our cinemas, which have struggled to stay afloat under very difficult conditions because of the laws in force, will eventually close.
The investments made in this field
will go to waste, and those working in the sector will lose their jobs.
Apart from all this,
we have artists who have been waiting for the “Copyright Law” to be passed for years.
Can you imagine?
Because this law has not been passed,
our artists cannot claim any rights over the works they have created with such care and effort.
The state cannot/will not protect
those works!
Because artists cannot receive royalties
for their works.
It is also a well-known fact that, for this reason, our artists who cross over to the Greek Cypriot side are made offer after offer.
Money is being poured out to artists to make their works “of Greek Cypriot origin.”
*
I do not want to politicize this issue
and overshadow it by creating a new subject of debate; but I cannot help asking the following questions of government members who talk at every opportunity about what they have done and speak of EU standards!
Which European Union
country has no Copyright Law?
In which EU member state are
films shown on TV and made available to the public before they are released in cinemas?
In which EU member state are the works of artists, a symbol of development, not protected by law?
Why are the Greek Cypriots’ opportunism allowed to go unchecked?
Why has this law not been passed and/or
been impossible to pass?
See you Friday... Be respectful
in traffic!
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