Nollywood actress Toyin Abraham has lamented the activities of those who pirated her movie titled Malaika, expressing her willingness to fight piracy in the entertainment industry.
Malaika is Abraham’s latest movie. It was originally released for cinema viewing only on December 21, 2023, and is still showing in all cinemas in Nigeria.
Malaika tells the story of a barren woman with anger issues and her struggles with her family and friends as she tries to find a solution to her childlessness. She later goes through a spiritual journey, which culminates in the discovery of her true calling.
Abraham on Wednesday cried out when her over N500m movie was pirated and posted on Telegram.
Speaking with newsmen in a viral video, she recounted how she was hospitalised as a result of having panic attacks after discovering that her movie had been pirated.
While she stressed that she spent N500m on production of the movie, she expressed her readiness to fight piracy. According to her, the movie was exclusively meant to be shown in the cinema.
Following the discover, Abraham and her co-producer, Seun Olayemi, lodged a criminal complaint at the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos; alleging that some elements had criminally pirated their latest movie.
The duo also alleged that the elements unlawfully and fraudulently accessed the movie, uploaded it to their website, and created a streaming web link for their social media followers worldwide to view the film free.
Following the receipt of the petition at the FCID, a joint investigation involving the Special Investigation Units of the Anti-Fraud and Cybercrime Sections of the Department was launched, while the unique intelligence and cybercrime assets of the Force were optimally deployed.
Spokesperson for the Department, ASP Aminat Mayegun, disclosed the arrest of five suspects, including two women, over the alleged piracy of the movie; parading them before newsmen at the FCID.
According to Mayegun, the suspects were allegedly involved in conspiracy, infringement on the intellectual property, piracy and cyber-related crimes in relation to the unlawful utilisation of the cyberspace to broadcast the movie.
When I opened the (Telegram) link and saw Malaika, I wanted to run mad. it was like my whole world was coming to an end right in front of me
Toyin Abraham, while responding to questions from newsmen, explained that it took her almost two months to shoot Malaika.
She said, “It is not easy to shoot a movie close to N500m and you just see it out there. I opened the (Telegram) link and saw Malaika. I wanted to run mad, it was like my whole world was coming to an end right in front of me.
“I cried and made several calls before I and my team started breaking the links of the ones uploaded. We also reached out to Google and Google sent us an email that the links had been broken.
“That is why I took it upon myself to fight piracy. This is not just about me but the entertainment industry because this is the only thing we do for a living,” she expressed.
In the entertainment industry, piracy refers to the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or use of copyrighted material, such as movies, music, software, or other creative works.
This can include illegal downloading, sharing, or selling of copyrighted content without the permission of the rights holders.
Piracy undermines the economic interests of content creators and distributors by circumventing legal channels of distribution and depriving them of rightful compensation for their work.
