Paulo Avelino assails rampant piracy in film, TV industry

Paulo Avelino | Images: Instagram/@pauavelino

Paulo Avelino assailed the seeming unabated practice of piracy in the entertainment industry, saying such rampancy affects the livelihood of the people who work in front of and behind the camera.

On X (formerly Twitter), the “Linlang” actor responded to a netizen’s remark that it is “impossible” to not have a pirate version of his and Kim Chui’s upcoming series “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim,” saying the act of piracy should not be normalized. 

“Bakit naman po imposible? Industriya po namin ang nalulugi sa pamimirata ng mga tv show o pelikula. Hindi lang po kabuhayan namin ang apektado kundi pati narin ang kabuhayan ng lahat ng taong nag ta-trabaho sa likod ng camera. Hindi niyo sila nakikita o kilala pero apektado rin sila. ‘Wag niyo pong gawing normal ang pamimirata ng mga palabas,” he argued. 

(Why is it impossible? It’s our industry that’s losing money from the piracy of TV shows and movies. It’s not only [the celebrities] livelihood that gets affected, but also the lives of the people working behind the camera. You guys don’t see or know them personally, but it affects them. Please don’t normalize the piracy of any viewing content.)

Bakit naman po imposible? Industriya po namin ang nalulugi sa pamimirata ng mga tv show o pelikula. Hindi lang po kabuhayan namin ang apektado kundi pati narin ang kabuhayan ng lahat ng taong nag ta-trabaho sa likod ng camera. Hindi niyo sila nakikita o kilala pero apektado rin… https://t.co/IqSZD2RUSS

— PAULO (@mepauloavelino) February 22, 2024

In 2020, Avelino’s film entry “Fan Girl” in the 46th edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) succumbed to online piracy as their production filed criminal cases against the pirated copies that circulated online at the time. 

A survey on piracy conducted by the Asia Video Industry Association’s Coalition Against Piracy in 2022 showed that the Philippines was among the highest consumers of pirated content in the region and, at the same time, the lowest consumer of legitimate content among the countries included in the survey. 

The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) is also among the organizations that continue to strengthen the fight against piracy, as they argue that the film industry contributes at least P11 billion to the economy and revenues can increase by at least 15 percent if only piracy can be restrained.

In the past, actors Matteo Guidicelli and John Arcilla were vocal in calling for the end of piracy in the country.