CUBA: Pirated US movies abound in Cuba despite trade embargo

Record ID: 369452

  • Title: CUBA: Pirated US movies abound in Cuba despite trade embargo
  • Date: 3rd September 2010
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 02, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES WITH CARS AND PEOPLE WALKING AROUND EXTERIOR OF "LA RAMPA" MOVIE THEATER AND STREET SCENES SIGN READING "TODAY: THE NEW DAUGHTER, U.S. FILM" COST OF MOVIE TICKET AT YARA MOVIE THEATER PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ALFREDO QUIÑONES, 47 YEAR-OLD CONSTRUCTION WORKER, SAYING: "Well, let's see, I've seen 2012 and now this one." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING OUTSIDE YARA MOVIE THEATER VARIOUS OF MEN BUYING MOVIE TICKETS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AMAYA KARICABURO, 23-YEAR-OLD MUSICOLOGIST, SAYING: "Having the embargo makes it so our country must look for a communications solution. I don't know the details but I think that it (pirating) has been the route that they (the government) has found. Having a premiere satisfies the audience but it's true that both sides have rights and that should be respected." MAN INSIDE YARA THEATRE CONTROL ROOM PUTTING FILM IN PROJECTOR
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAALXDB6SNL8TGCUUK47GAFR2PN
  • Story Text: Just weeks after top movies premiere in the United States, the movies are already entertaining the masses in communist Cuba.
    For two pesos, the equivalent of nine U.S. cents, the state-owned Yara movie theater in the heart of Havana offered Cubans a washed out and pixilated copy of the films.
    The problem is that the films are showing in Cuba even before they are officially released on DVD in the United States and, even after release, Cuba would be off limits due to the 48-year-old U.S. trade embargo against the Caribbean island.
    But half a century of U.S. sanctions have turned Cuba into a piracy haven and a missed opportunity for U.S. businesses. For example, James Cameron's blockbuster film "Avatar" appeared on Cuba's state television in February while the movie was still breaking box office records around the world.
    Cuban construction worker Alfredo Quinones admits to seeing several U.S. films.
    "Well, let's see, I've seen 2012 and now this one," he said.
    The trade embargo, imposed since 1962 with the aim of toppling the Caribbean island's communist government, forbids most U.S. business with Cuba, with the key exception of agricultural products, and, under certain restrictions, medicines.
    Cuba's unofficial position-- a position echoed by this young woman outside the Yara Theater-- is that the embargo limits access to so many products that it forces people to resort to piracy.
    "Having the embargo makes it so our country must look for a communications solution. I don't know the details but I think that it (pirating) has been the route that they (the government) has found. Having a premiere satisfies the audience but it's true that both sides have rights and that should be respected," said Amaya Karicaburo.
    Surfing Cuba's five television channels, all state-owned, a viewer could stumble across shows such as Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" and NBC's "Friends," or movies like Dreamworks' "Madagascar 2".
    Violinist Carla Lopez said she believes that there should be some sort of payment.
    "That (piracy) is a problem and I imagine that each party must pay to have access to all of that. Really, I don't know what the system or mechanism is to do it but I definitely think that everything that one should pay what is consumed and sold in each country," Lopez said.
    The Business Software Alliance, a Washington-based industry group, estimates that the piracy rate in Cuba is around 80 percent, if not higher.
    The problem is not limited to the entertainment industry. Most personal computers on the island run unlicensed copies of Microsoft <MSFT.O> Windows operating system and video games of all types are sold by software pirates in Cuba for the equivalent of about $2.
    A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment.
    Cuba took a step toward addressing the problem last year when it developed a variant of the free, open-source operating system Linux and promoted its use in the country's computers.
    Meanwhile, Cuba has been more protective of its own products, having spent much time and money defending its world-famous Cohiba cigar and Havana Club rum brands in legal battles in the United States
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