Enforcing the Copyright Law in Albania
Foreign films on fifty television stations were illegally broadcast for the Albanian public 24 hours-a-day. Hollywood movies, MTV, and CNN dominated the TV screen free of charge to anyone with an antenna. Some of the films had not even reached the European market before they had arrived on the Albanian TV set.
Every station also had access to a full set of 300 Albanian featured films, plus 1,300 documentaries produced before 1991. They played them repeatedly without fear of being charged with piracy. Film producer Fatmir Koci was never paid for his films. “The stores were filled with my films and TV stations were stealing them right and left. I never made any money once the films were produced.”
Every station also had access to a full set of 300 Albanian featured films, plus 1,300 documentaries produced before 1991. They played them repeatedly without fear of being charged with piracy. Film producer Fatmir Koci was never paid for his films. “The stores were filled with my films and TV stations were stealing them right and left. I never made any money once the films were produced.”
Photo: USAID/Albania Karla Christensen
Fatmir Koci proudly displaying his film that he has recently sold since the Copyright Law’s implementation.
“I would never have imagined getting this sum of money three years ago.”- Film Producer Fatmir Koci on being paid $12,000 by a local Albanian TV station for “Tirana 2000,” one of his internationally recognized films.
USAID, with the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), is combating broadcast piracy head-on and ensuring that only licensed programming is allowed to be broadcast on the television. The Copyright Law in Albania was passed 14 years ago in Albania, yet, it was clear that the government had turned a blind eye to abuses of the law. With USAID help, the National Council of Radio and Television (NCRT) was created to control the licensing of TV programming in Albania, and the Albanian parliament made amendments to the Copyright Law, which allowed NCRT to penalize those stations in noncompliance.
