Mali Music - Press release Piracy

May 23, 2005

PRESS RELEASE

It is with a sincere regret that we decided to lay off all our staff Wednesday 16th , 2005. This was due to the upsurge of piracy in our country. This painful decision was urged by the difficult situation in which this upsurge of piracy affected our company in suspension of payment. Seeing that piracy and any other form of forgery, and fraud, impacts the economic environment of any company similar to Mali K7.

Through this laying off, we want to protest against the accentuation of piracy and the impunity of criminals involved in. We also want to protest against the indifference of the authorities concerning the threat of piracy for Malian culture, mainly for music.
Thus, we want to give them full responsibility by calling to witness the national and international opinion.

We think that this objective has been reached, because we believe that Malian authorities are now ready to go beyond the mere traditional promises and fight vigorously the networks of piracy. Many awareness raising and seizure actions have been carried out at the level of the department of culture. Even if they don’t always meet our expectations, they reveal the will of the authorities to fight the evil at the grass root level. The Minister himself firmly committed to send on the field an effective and regular brigade for fighting against piracy. He also insures us of the firm commitment of his counterpart of Internal Security and Civilian Protection concerning this fight.

We were also comforted by the Minister of Culture’s own commitment, since his appointment, to spare no effort to listen to us and support us in our determination to uproot the evil. He held many meetings and took many initiatives of general meetings concerning this scourge in order to set swinging a synergy of actions against the evil which is undermining Malian music.

We really appreciated the support of an important section of the population, the international opinion starting from the National Agency of the Promotion of Employment, from the National and International Press. In addition to this, we can note the mobilization of artists against the closure of Mali K7 at today’s date. They bravely went on the field, everywhere in Bamako, seizing boxes of pirated artist
works sometimes jeopardizing their life.

We cannot remain unmoved by so many supports, so many political wills and mobilization for us. In response to that wave of sympathy, we decided to reopen Mali K7 on Monday May 23rd , 2005. We reopen with the hope that this commitment for fighting against piracy will not weaken until the final victory against the evil; and the pirates will never benefit from the impunity that covered them up to now. We hope that the commitment of the Minister of Culture, through the Malian office of Authors’ Rights (BUMDA) will find expression in concrete actions. We are always ready to make efforts if the necessary sacrifices to play our partition up to the national expectation. But our effort will be fruitful only in an environment free from unfair competition. There is a share for every body on the music market under the conditions that it is a fair play. We would like to thank all those who supported our fight. We would like also to thank them from the bottom of our heart. From this decision, we wish to remain mobilized, hands in hands, to protect our creators and our art in order to further reinforce the radiant dynamic of Malian culture in the world.
Together this challenge is within our capacity.


May 23, 2005 PRESS RELEASE It is with a sincere regret that we decided to lay off all our staff Wednesday 16th , 2005. This was due to the upsurge of piracy in our country. This painful decision was urged by the difficult situation in which this upsurge of piracy affected our company in suspension of payment. Seeing that piracy and any other form of forgery, and fraud, impacts the economic environment of any company similar to Mali K7. Through this laying off, we want to protest against the accentuation of piracy and the impunity of criminals involved in. We also want to protest against the indifference of the authorities concerning the threat of piracy for Malian culture, mainly for music. Thus, we want to give them full responsibility by calling to witness the national and international opinion. We think that this objective has been reached, because we believe that Malian authorities are now ready to go beyond the mere traditional promises and fight vigorously the networks of piracy. Many awareness raising and seizure actions have been carried out at the level of the department of culture. Even if they don’t always meet our expectations, they reveal the will of the authorities to fight the evil at the grass root level. The Minister himself firmly committed to send on the field an effective and regular brigade for fighting against piracy. He also insures us of the firm commitment of his counterpart of Internal Security and Civilian Protection concerning this fight. We were also comforted by the Minister of Culture’s own commitment, since his appointment, to spare no effort to listen to us and support us in our determination to uproot the evil. He held many meetings and took many initiatives of general meetings concerning this scourge in order to set swinging a synergy of actions against the evil which is undermining Malian music. We really appreciated the support of an important section of the population, the international opinion starting from the National Agency of the Promotion of Employment, from the National and International Press. In addition to this, we can note the mobilization of artists against the closure of Mali K7 at today’s date. They bravely went on the field, everywhere in Bamako, seizing boxes of pirated artist works sometimes jeopardizing their life. We cannot remain unmoved by so many supports, so many political wills and mobilization for us. In response to that wave of sympathy, we decided to reopen Mali K7 on Monday May 23rd , 2005. We reopen with the hope that this commitment for fighting against piracy will not weaken until the final victory against the evil; and the pirates will never benefit from the impunity that covered them up to now. We hope that the commitment of the Minister of Culture, through the Malian office of Authors’ Rights (BUMDA) will find expression in concrete actions. We are always ready to make efforts if the necessary sacrifices to play our partition up to the national expectation. But our effort will be fruitful only in an environment free from unfair competition. There is a share for every body on the music market under the conditions that it is a fair play. We would like to thank all those who supported our fight. We would like also to thank them from the bottom of our heart. From this decision, we wish to remain mobilized, hands in hands, to protect our creators and our art in order to further reinforce the radiant dynamic of Malian culture in the world. Together this challenge is within our capacity.