No plans to criminalize camcording
p2pnet.net news:- With heavy breathing from Ellis Jacob in the background, Canadian federal justice minister Rob Nicholson says he’s not planning to kowtow to Hollywood any time soon.
Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney have been trying to browbeat Canada into making camcording in cinemas a major crime with major penalties, including jail. Just like it is in the US of A. And fronting for the studios in Canada has been Cineplex Entertainment’s Ellis Jacobs.
As things stand, the maximum fine under the federal Copyright Act is $1-million and five years in jail for camcording a movie for commercial distribution, says The National Post. But as Jacob points out angrily, although filming isn’t actually allowed, nor is it a criminal offence,.
Nicholson says there’s already, “a stiff copyright law in Canada to catch people who sneak camcorders into movie theatres for the purposes of filming for commercial distribution,” says the story, going on that Hollywood is, “pressing for more expansive laws and one studio, 20th Century Fox, has threatened to withhold movie distribution in Canada.
However, well-known Canadian law commentator Dr Michael Geist doesn’t see things that way.
“I think we need far better evidence to suggest that there is a problem,” The National Post has Geist saying, also stating the industry’s data on the matter are, “all over the place.”
A bigger problem, he said, is industry insiders bootlegging DVDs before the movies are even released in theatres.
Also See:
heavy breathing – Ellis Jacob Meets the Pirates!, February 13, 2007
The National Post – Tories will not act to curb movie piracy, February 13, 2007
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