Full Text: Renowned Liberian movie star Gregory Frank Artus recently claimed on Facebook that the "Government of Liberia permits pirates to pay taxes on pirated goods."
The post emerged amid growing concerns about piracy in Liberia's creative industry, which undermines progress and robs hardworking creatives of their intellectual property rights.
Artus stated that the "Government of Liberia has been allowing pirates to pay taxes for pirated goods in the country." He further argued that "piracy, like drug abuse, threatens Liberia's future, especially in the creative sector, where thousands struggle to make a living. It's time to treat piracy as a national emergency."
At the time of publication, the post had generated 385 reactions, 196 comments, and 11 shares.
Verification: Pirated goods are products that have been illegally copied, reproduced, or distributed without the permission of the copyright or intellectual property owner. For example: music albums, TV shows, counterfeit e-books, software, video games, etc.
We contacted James Kokolu, Manager of the Tax Payers Service Division at the Liberia Revenue Authority to provide verify the claim made by Artus.
Kokolu said, "No. We do not apply taxes on illegal activities. LRA does not give authorization to people who do or sell pirated goods or whatever simply because we are only concerned about tax. No. We do not collect taxes from those kinds of people."
His response disclosed that the LRA only collects taxes from legal businesses operating under the Liberia law but added that, like every sector, people have the tendency to corrupt the system.
Kokolu noted that Frank can not uprightly say that the Government collects taxes from these people, encouraging people like Frank to report cases of businesses involved in illegal activities to the responsible government ministries or agencies.
We also visited the Liberia Intellectual Property Office and met with Deputy Director General for Industrial Property, Jamus P. Bannah. She stated that "the LIPO does not handle tax collection and that there is no law that requires pirates to pay taxes for their goods, especially when it is established to be pirated." She encouraged us to visit the Copyright Society of Liberia for further information.
"Any infringement of intellectual property rights under this Act, if committed willfully and knowingly on a commercial scale including copyright/related rights, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than one (1) year and not more than two (2) years, or by a fine of not less than United States One Thousand and Five Hundred Dollars (US$1,500.00) and not more than United States Two Thousand-Five Hundred Dollars (US$2,500.00) or both."
TSM contacted Artus via Facebook messenger to provide clarity or evidence to his claim but he did respond, if he does, this article will be updated. Conclusion: Artus's claim is False. The Government of Liberia, through its tax collection arm, does not permit the collection of taxes on illegal goods such as pirated materials. Documents and relevant agencies contacted, including the 2016 Intellectual Property Act of Liberia, particularly Section 19, consider piracy a criminal offense.
