Wider availability of movies, music, television series and computer games will render piracy obsolete, said directors of Lehner Investments, the manager of the MultiMediaFund, chaired by legendary movie star Sir Roger Moore.

A part of the illegal trade is triggered by pricing and availability issues, said a top official of Lehner Investments.

“Eventually, when global property rights have been negotiated and the infrastructure is in place, consumers will be able to legally and instantly access any content in high quality on any device anywhere in the world and in any language at a very low cost. This will make piracy irrelevant as it will no longer be viable,” said Klaus Lovgreen, COO of Lehner Investments.

“There are enormous opportunities in the entertainment segment, particularly in applying new technologies such as 3D, as well as making use of digital distribution channels to enhance the value of multimedia content and intellectual property rights, said Lovgreen.

The UAE’s National Media Council recently destroyed 22,000 pirate CDs confiscated in Dubai in the first quarter of 2010 but the country’s piracy rate is still below the international average, according to the Ministry of Economy.

Since the UAE joined the World trade Organisation in 1996, it has updated all legislation associated with intellectual property to meet international requirements.

“Delivery, and consumption of such content will be traceable, making the royalty collection process more efficient and, along with reduced piracy, more profitable for content owners. We feel confident that our approach makes the MultiMediaFund a rather conservative investment with the ability to provide attractive returns by acquiring valuable assets that will accelerate over time,” he added.

The MultiMediaFund is an absolute return, open-ended investment fund with the objective of investing into development and first class distribution, as well as the acquisition of intellectual property rights in movies, television, music and gaming.

The Moore family is well-connected in the entertainment industry in the United States and Europe, enabling the MultiMediaFund to invest in the world’s most exclusive movie and television productions - all with an impeccable track record.

The fund also intends to finance print and advertising (P&A) for movies in which the MultiMediaFund is investing to ensure maximum exposure and hence optimise the return on investment.

The MultiMediaFund will primarily be inviting institutional investors and high net-worth individuals especially from the Middle East, to participate in the fund.

“We firmly believe the MultiMediaFund will appeal to this region following growing interest in the entertainment industry, made evident by events such as the Abu Dhabi Film Festival,' Moore remarked.

'Therefore we feel that by working with investors in the region the opportunity for production of projects will also be an exciting opportunity in the near future,' he added.

Directors from Lehner Investments, including Lovgreen, Christian Moore and Markus Lehner will visit the UAE from October 21 to 28 to meet with potential investment partners as well as look for projects in which they can contribute to financing.

The advisory board of the MultiMediaFund will also, through its contacts in the music industry, identify and acquire catalogues of existing popular music producing a consistent royalty income.

The fund intends to co-operate with established royalty collection businesses across Europe and the US in order to realise the value of acquired catalogues.

In the gaming segment, the MultiMediaFund will develop opportunities for turning acquired intellectual property rights in movies, for example, into online/offline games as well as mobile applications, directly or via licensing deals with existing game developers.

In addition to already acquired rights, the MultiMediaFund will identify and acquire existing gaming titles with a proven revenue stream along the same lines as those of music and movies.-TradeArabia News Service