Nigerian singer says cutting off fingers will solve music piracy
The music industry has been trying to combat illegal downloading for sometime now, and a variety of tactics (some more effective than others) have been employed—ranging from absurd lawsuits to streaming services like Spotify. Now, Nigerian singer and self-described “human rights activist” Stella Monye thinks she has the solution: cutting off the fingers of people who steal music.
She told Nigeria’s News Agency, “If their fingers are cut, they won't see the hands to use in pirating the works. Cutting their fingers off will stop them, by the time you cut off two people's fingers others will stop. They will learn and it will be faster in stopping them; without a drastic measure they won't stop. Taking them to court to be fined N10,000 [$61.96 USD] will not deter them. They will pay and come out to continue.”
She continued, “You become a pauper because of your pirated works, they impoverish you. What is more wicked than pirating someone's intellectual property and making the person suffer without getting anything from all the money he invested in the works?”
This is, obviously, really barbaric and would never happen. But it’s interesting to see just how strongly some artists feel about their intellectual property rights. You can listen to one of Stella’s songs below. I feel really bad for the person who uploaded it to YouTube without her permission.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
