Musicians repeat need for copyright law

While the owner of the Punta Rebels, plans to take the matter to court, the entire episode has once again sparked the copyright debate. Two of the members of the band we spoke with say that without the appropriate laws to protect them, local artists will forever be taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals.

Supa G, Lead Vocalist

“That is something that we really, really need in this country. I went to radio stations and I have spoken about this and I think other artists have spoken about it. This copyright law is really, really needed and without it, this will continue happening. As a victim of this situation I am really, really unhappy with it. Why, because if this is what we the elders are going to do, duplicating one another’s CD without permission, I think we are setting a bad example for the youths coming up that would want to be in this music.”

Mark Pascual, Band Leader

“I don’t like the situation very much because we are trying very hard to do what we love. We try very hard to play and make music to make our fans feel good and to let someone come and just reap the benefits off of our head is very disgusting, I don’t like it very much.”

Like it or not, the CD has been copied and without a copyright law, Punta Rebels may have to join the growing list of local artists whose intellectual property rights has been shamelessly violated. Attempts to contact Diamond Dave have been unsuccessful as he is said to be on vacation. The buying public can easily distinguish the pirate CD from the original as the label on the counterfeit disk is a low quality color photocopy. Until Diamond Studios can come up with a plausible explanation fans of the Punta Rebels are asked to keep it real when it comes to spending their money.