For years now, Brooklyn has been the headquarter for Nollywood bootlegged movies here in the United States, where fans have paid $3 for the bootlegged copies of latest releases in several stores, especially where cell phones, calling cards are being sold.
A recent raid of nine Brooklyn stores resulted in the confiscating of over 10,000 bootleg DVD’s. This effort to shut down or reduce the number of counterfeit DVD’s sold in the USA is definitely a success for the entire Nollywood industry.
Jim Iyke was also present at this Press Release on Thursday, and he mentioned that the films were popular outside Africa, because there were a “window to see what home was — a way to follow the progress and the problems.”
The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, promised Thursday that “people will go to jail,” though his office announced no arrests, and called the bootleggers “parasitic crooks”
The Nollywood representatives indicated that Brooklyn is now regarded as the largest Nollywood audiences outside of Africa, with the films being of high demands not just among Africans living the USA, but also among people from the Caribbean and African Americans.
Source: NYtimes.com, and NollywoodNYC
Operation Access Nollywood Press Conference Media Coverage Links
- http://www.brooklynda.org
- http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/04/brooklyn-da-cracks-down-on-nollywood-counterfeits/
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101104/ennew_afp/entertainmentusnigeriacrimefilmjustice_20101104180541
- http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/nollywood_bootleg_bust_1db9dSpLXp7PrK45UY6gOO
- http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20101105-301540/10000-pirated-Nigerian-made-films-seized-in-NY
- http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/11/04/2010-11-04_10000_bootleg_dvds_of_nollywood_nigerian_movies_seized_in_brooklyn.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/nyregion/05nollywood.html?_r=1&src=twr
