Nigerian Artist Says Finger Amputation Is the Only Way to Solve Music Piracy…

The recommendation comes from a very frustrated Stella Monye, a celebrated Nigerian samba artist who has witnessed her sales decline precipitously over the past ten years.  “Taking them to court to be fined N10,000 [$62] will not deter them,” Monye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) earlier this week.  “They will pay and come out to continue.”

“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.”

The extreme position wasn’t made in jest, and highlights just how frustrated (and impoverished) many famous artists have become.  “You become a pauper because of your pirated works, they impoverish you,” Monye continued. “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?”

“We have been saying a lot about piracy but the authorities have not done much for it to be stopped.”

The opinion also demonstrates that piracy remains a very real and pertinent issue for content owners and artists, despite successful ‘piracy alternatives’ like Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube.  Just this week. worldwide recording organization IFPI called for a worldwide blockade against torrent sites by ISPs, while streaming payouts (or lack thereof) often leave artists wondering whether there’s any difference at all between torrenting and streaming.