Canadian Govt. Pledges Film Piracy Bill Following Schwarzenegger Visit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 1, 2007 - 11:33am.

Los Angeles - Following a trip up north this week by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Canadian government said it will introduce legislation aimed at stemming film piracy in the country, Variety reported.

"Canada's new government will take action to put a stop to the problem of film piracy and will bring forward amendments to Canada's Criminal Code," Heritage Minister Bev Oda told Variety.

"Piracy has a devastating impact on the entire film industry, and our government intends to ensure respect for the intellectual property rights of cinematic works."

The assurance follows letters sent by several Senators to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the topic of film piracy, as well as Warner Bros.' move to halt all promotional screenings in the country -- where it says 70% of its titles that have been pirated in the past 18 months have originated from.

Currently, videotaping a movie in a Canadian movie theater is a civil offense; U.S. movie studios have been pressuring the government there to beef up penalties and enforcement.

http://www.mptac.ca/english/index.html

Published in DMW Daily, June 1, 2007

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Canadian Govt.

Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on June 1, 2007 - 3:38pm.

"Canada's new government will take action ..." says a cabinet minister. Canadians are getting a new government? The current government has been around for well over a year.

oooh, dah evil canadians, eh?

Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on June 1, 2007 - 6:34pm.

Right, film pirates all go to Canada with their video cameras and sit in dark theaters, safely knowing they won't be prosecuted? Give me a break. Since the Studios always fail to show a picture going into profit, they aren't paying the actual creators, and, this is more hoo-ha about corporate entertainment grabbing dollars under guise of "protecting intellectual property," as if that's some biblical right. New models are already underway for "creators" and creative talent to bypass the studios -- since most Studio films suck, maybe that will eventually be the best way to prevent piracy, no one will bother.