Seminar hosted by the Pan African Association Convergence, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Canal+ with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD).

Leading experts and thought leaders share best practices and identify solutions that help promote a safer online environment.

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST – For the first time ever, the Pan African Association Convergence, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Canal+ with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) have joined forces and hosted the International Seminar on IP Protection & Audiovisual Internet Piracy in Africa. The objective of the 2-day seminar was to identify solutions and share best practices to tackle piracy and promote a safer online environment for creators and consumers.

The 60 participants which included judicial authorities, government officials, intellectual property specialists, lawyers and other stakeholders discussed the ongoing challenges and threats of piracy and identified strategic solutions to better protect creators, consumers and everyone working in the audiovisual sector. Targeted workshops held by leading practitioners in IP protection also offered hands-on expertise, tactics and best practices.

“The Convergence association advocates the rights of creators and players in the audiovisual and Internet sectors faced with piracy. In so doing, it speaks to governments, institutions, the law, security officials and consumers. This international seminar in Abidjan, supported by the MPA, ACE, Canal+ and the AFD, provides her with an excellent platform to make her case heard throughout Africa and beyond,” declared Béatrice Damiba, President of the Association Convergence.

“We’re very proud and pleased to see so many French- and English-speaking African countries represented, as well as international experts. This shows that the problem is global and that collaboration against piracy must be global”, said Simon Minkowski, Anti-Piracy Director for Canal+ International.

“I am thrilled that we were able to join forces and forged new strategic alliances with authorities and government officials determined to support us in upholding the rule of law and by doing so open the doors to jobs and economic growth for Africa’s audiovisual sector’, said Stan McCoy, President and Managing Director, for MPA Europe, Middle East and Africa. “I am equally excited of our ongoing partnership with Convergence on educational campaigns that highlight the impact of piracy on actors, creators, producers and all those millions of hard-working people that help bring these fantastic films, series and great stories to life,” he continued.

“Piracy continues to be a major threat to our global audiovisual community. It harms films and businesses of all sizes and nationalities; threatens jobs; undermines investment; reduces tax contributions to governments and stifles the very creativity that is the heartbeat of our industry,” said Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Content Protection for the Motion Picture Association and Head of ACE. “ACE’s ambition is to pioneer a much more comprehensive, cross-border approach to combating piracy and with this event, we have been able to further strengthen our presence in the Africa region.”

– END –

This article was first published on ACE