Spain today (Dec. 19) launched its first national anti-piracy campaign eight months after the initiative was first announced. The country’s culture ministry is spending €1 million ($1.2 million) on the “Defend your culture from piracy” media campaign, covering Spain’s Christmas gift-buying season.
It includes messages such as: “The ideas of some help others to have ideas. If we let people steal them, what is left?”, and “What’s the value of an idea that makes you laugh, makes you dream, makes you cry?”
Some €613,000 ($735,000) is to be spent on almost 250 advertisements on all national TV stations until Jan. 5. Ads will roll out in cinemas, on radio, the Internet, magazines and on the subway systems.
Culture ministry Carmen Calvo presented the plan saying “for those of us who are not believers, culture is the only divine thing we humans have. And I want it to be the Spanish people who in the end say no to piracy.”
Calvo unveiled the integrated anti-piracy plan April 8, which would coordinate 11 ministries with police forces, local and regional governments, the judicial system and a media campaign.
More than two months later, international and local industry leaders rounded on the Spanish government for failing to enforce the plan.
Spain’s music business has shrunk by more than 30% since 2000 largely because of physical CD piracy, says IFPI affiliate Promusicae. The IFPI cites Spain as one of the 10 countries worst affected by CD piracy. Spain is the world’s 9th biggest-ranked music industry.
