Source: O Globo, 03/12/2010

SÃO PAULO - It is estimated that the market for pirated products - CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys and even medicines - generates R $ 120 billion a year in Brazil. The government alone fails to earn R $ 30 billion in taxes. The damage to companies producing official goods is incalculable. Almost half of Brazilians buy piracy, a sample that varies little according to social class or education level. The data is the eloquent result of a culture in which piracy is not a crime, nor does it harm companies and professionals.

- There is a romantic view that those who produce and sell piracy are unemployed poor people. It is an illusion. Whoever works with piracy is linked to organized crime - says the executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice and president of the National Council to Combat Piracy, Rafael Thomaz Favetti. - Often, operations to apprehend pirated products lead policemen to a mafia, which commits other crimes such as human trafficking and slave labor - adds Favetti, citing as an example a recent arrest in the Federal District that resulted in the arrest of 33 Chinese.

But changing behavior and mindset is not simple. Part of the effort begins on Friday with the broadcast in 600 cinemas of an awareness campaign created in partnership by the Ministry of Justice with the National Film Agency (Ancine). There are four 45-second films made by the DM9 agency, with the participation of singers Claudia Leitte and Rogério Flausino, lead singer of Jota Quest. In addition to theaters, DVDs will feature one of the campaign's films in their content. The initiative is important, but it must be the tip of an iceberg, whose foundation is formed by education and repressive measures. It is the evaluation of Luiz Fernando Garcia, director of the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM).

- An advertising campaign alone does not change behavior. It has to be part of a complete package that includes education, whose effects appear in the medium and long term, and repression - explains Garcia, comparing the campaign to combat piracy with AIDS prevention and traffic safety campaigns (“If you drink, don't drive ”).

Garcia praises the more positive tone of the new campaign. In previous years, the government preferred to associate piracy with organized crime in advertising, which did not work well, according to the expert.

- I prefer the current campaign than the previous ones. The association with organized crime was not convincing. The public found the bond forced - Garcia says. - Reinforcing the positive side usually works best. But part of the speech is fragile. Famous artists can be a force to value the work of creation. The other side of this coin is the risk of some thinking: “oh, they already made too much money” - predicts the academic.

For the Minister of Justice, Luiz Paulo Barreto, another front in the fight against piracy is universal access to goods. Barreto recalled the low number of movie theaters in Brazil and their concentration in large cities.

- Piracy even has exclusive markets in Brazil. It is necessary to attack the supply of pirated products by fighting demand, just as with drugs. And to reduce demand, it is necessary to offer access to the good in some way, whether in cinema, video store, open or closed TV - believes Luiz Paulo Barreto.

The president of the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), Manoel da Costa Rangel, says that with income and access, Brazilians prefer to consume the original product, even to feel included. Rangel believes that in addition to the campaign and repression, the audiovisual sector is struggling to rearrange itself, offering more competitive prices and protecting itself from internal content leaks.

- The problem of access to the product is important, but I see solidarity efforts in the economic chain. DVDs and CDs are, without a doubt, the most pirated products in Brazil - concludes Rangel, optimistic when observing the box office record of national films in 2010.