Arusha — Music trade mark piracy is on the increase in Arusha to an extent that the artists now walk about selling their own work to avoid "pirates" who fix fake brands on their music CDs of films.

One of the artists Julius Mshanga, told the Arusha Times that music art work now pays as long as one sold his own work to avoid "conversions" by unreliable individuals in the market.

He said one had to sell his own work or appoint a reliable dealer to avoid piracy.

Mshanga also known as Bob Jully said he started playing music in 2000 when he worked with the Kuringe Brothers of Kilimanjaro before shifting to Arusha as a freelance artist.

He recently produced an album with 10 songs named Ahsante styled in reggae with themes ranging from peace to other social issues.

Bob Jully said the pirates plagiarized the artists authentic work and sold it as originals thereby diverting sales.

He said he intended to register with Copyrights Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) so as to have legal protection against piracy and called on artists to register for protection of their work in the market.

Another Arusha based artist is Nakaaya Sumari had also once remarked that if one wasn't vigilant his/her work would end in the hands of cheats.