p2pnet.net news:- The major Hollywood studios are pulling out all the stops to muscle Canada into changing its copyright laws to suit them before a new administration takes over; one that may not be as cooperative as George W. Bush’s.

According to Hollywood, we’re the hotbed of illicit underground movie production.

Now US ambassador David Wilkins says Canada must strengthen its copyright laws, “to prevent illicit pirating of American music and films,” says Agence France-Presse, quoting him as also stating:

“There’s a lot of pirating that goes on, a lot of counterfeiting of movies and songs” and “it really does cost the Canadian economy a huge amount every year, estimated to be from some 10 to 30 billion (dollars) per year. It’s not some effort to protect some high-paid Hollywood star or studio. It’s about ensuring that Canadian and American innovators and entrepreneurs are encouraged and protected so they will continue to make North America competitive in the world marketplace.”

His figures come from Hollywood’s MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), which routinely produces unsupported statistics to suit the occasion.

Wilkins, “indicated Washington was working closely with the Canadian government, as well as the Canadian motion picture, sound recording and computer software industries to solve the inadequacy of the legal protections,” adds AFP.

Earlier, “The time has come for the United States to send a stern warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, which has failed to deliver on a promised overhaul of copyright laws and a policing crackdown,” The Globe and Mail had the so-called International Intellectual Property Alliance saying.

“The industry groups feel very strongly that we need to ratchet this up,” IIPA legal counsel Steve Metalitz said. “The disturbing thing is that the Canadian government doesn’t seem to take this very seriously.”

Two US senators are also horning in. Dianne Feinstein and John Cornyn decided it was for time for them to personally represent Hollywood to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, “calling his attention to the dramatic increase in movie piracy that has occurred in Canada since the United States enacted tougher laws and penalties”.

They’re demanding he, “enact a law similar to one they introduced in 2003 to crack down on video and audio piracy, specifically banning the recording of movies before they are released to video”.

The law they’re referring to is their infamous Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention Act (S. 1932) . Under it, “theater owners and employees would be legally able to ‘detain’ anyone they thought was trying to illegally record a movie with complete immunity from any civil or criminal liability that resulted from the ‘detention’,” p2pnet posted, continuing:

“The (ART Act) carries up to $250,000 in fines, three years in jail for first time ‘offenders,’ five years if they’re caught distributing for profit and 10 years inside for repeat offenders.”

Says Canadian Net law expert Michael Geist:

The letter pulls out all the usual suspects – the 20th Century Fox claims that Canada is responsible for 50 percent of camcorded movies, the claims that Canadian copyright law is unable to deal with the issue, and the argument that Canadian camcordings are “higher quality.”

The Senators also suggest that the alleged growth of Canadian camcording is a direct result of their U.S. anti-camcording legislation (ie. camcording moves north due to fear of the U.S. rules). Of course, they do not mention that the U.S. National Association of Theatre Owners has commented on the spread of camcording within the U.S. (then again, there is unsurprisingly no reference to data that calls into question the severity of the problem and its economic impact).

The letter concludes by warning that “if Canada does not criminalize illicit camcording, we are afraid that illegal pirating will continue to mushroom in your country.” This issue continues to play out in an entirely predictable fashion – threats from U.S. movie studios, reports from U.S. lobby groups, and now letters from U.S. politicians. Up next will be a much harsher warning from the U.S. Trade Representative, which will cite these developments and follow the IIPA recommendations in its Section 301 Report that will be released next month.

Below is the Feinstein / Cornyn letter, funded by American tax-payers and the constituents of the two US politicians, in full:

They also tell Harper to feel free to contact them should he need their help in any way.

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.,
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister:

We are writing to call your attention to the explosive growth of pirating of movies from theaters through the use of hand-recorders known as ‘camcorders.’ The theft and sale of newly-released movies has always been a serious threat to the motion picture industry. Now, the advancements of digital technology and improved camcorder capabilities have compounded the problem.

Camcorders on the market today are easily concealable and have more advanced technological capabilities. An individual can use these sophisticated hidden cameras and take advantage of sound jacks in theaters meant for hearing-impaired moviegoers to produce a high-quality copy of a film. It is no surprise that these copies are now the source of more than 90 percent of counterfeit DVDs of newly-released movies.

Walking into a cinema and surreptitiously videotaping a movie is clearly wrong, clearly inappropriate, and something that should clearly be prohibited. However, until two years ago it was not a federal crime in the United States and only illegal in four of our 50 states. In response, we offered legislation in the U.S. Senate which has been enacted into law that protects artists by making it a federal crime to use camcorders and other recording devices in movie theaters.

The law we authored does two things to combat the problem. First, it makes it illegal to make an unauthorized recording of a motion picture in a movie theater, for any reason, punishable by up to 3 years in prison and/or a fine. Second, it makes it illegal to make pre-released versions of movies, including movies that have not yet been commercially-released on DVD or video, available on the Internet without authorization punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine. (A copy of the statute is enclosed).

Unfortunately, since the United States has enacted tougher laws and penalties against piracy, including camcording piracy, it seems that much of this illicit business has simply moved north. According to a report issued by the U.S. Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, piracy in Canada has grown since the U.S. enacted its law in 2005. In fact, Canadian-sourced camcordings rose by 24 percent in 2006 from 2005.

We are told that Canadian camcordings tend to be much higher quality; and therefore, they are in greater demand and responsible for a significantly higher percentage of pirated works around the world. Films illegally recorded in Canada have been found in no fewer than 45 countries. Twentieth Century Fox has reported that, at one point during 2006, Canadian theaters were the source for nearly 50 percent of illegal camcorded recordings across the globe. However, it is still not a criminal offense in Canada to make an unauthorized recording of a film in a movie theater. That means there is no law against what is essentially the theft of property.

We understand that to criminally prosecute a pirate for camcording in Canada there must be proof that the copy of the film being recorded is being made for commercial purposes. This loophole allows a person caught camcording a film in a Canadian theater to simply claim that they are making the copy for personal use. Theater owners can do little more than tell pirates to leave since there is no clear violation of the law.

It has been reported that enacting a federal law in the United States has provided an important deterrent and allowed the movie industry and theater owners to effectively attack this problem here. It has enabled American theater owners to post signs stating that camcording is a federal criminal offense and, should the warnings be ignored, notify law enforcement of violations. With a clear-cut statute in place, authorities can more successfully prosecute violators.

The digital recording of movies before or during their initial theatrical release is one of the most serious piracy problems faced by the motion picture industry. In fact, six out of ten movies never recoup their original investment. This is not just a problem for the United States and its motion picture industry. A worldwide study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) concluded that in 2005 movie piracy cost the Canadian film industry and your government $225 million and $34 million, respectively, in lost revenues.

If Canada does not criminalize illicit camcording, we are afraid that illegal pirating will continue to mushroom in your country. While a new law will not stop the worldwide-problem of film camcording, it will certainly help end this most egregious form of copyright piracy. It is bad enough when artists must compete with pirates to sell their products; it is far worse when pirates steal artists’ creations and then sell them before the artist has even had the chance to recover their costs.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter of utmost importance. If we can be of any assistance to you or your cabinet ministers, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

John Cornyn
United States Senator

When we wrote about ART in 2004, “Coincidentally, so far this year Feinstein has received entertainment industry support to the tune of $269,566,” we said. This became $284,844 for 2006, says OpenSecrets.

And, “Hollywood’s main man, MPAA boss Dan Glickman, is doing his best to convince the world his employers, the immensely wealthy major studios, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, are being ruined by file sharers who camcord movies in Montreal, Canada, and then upload them,” posted p2pnet recently, going on:

“In his mind-bending diatribes, he always conveniently forgets to mention Hollywood insiders have starring roles in getting movies online.”

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UPDATE – 11:45 am Pacific:- Hollywood’s claims of woes notwithstanding, it achieved an all-time high of $25.8 billion in revenues, compared to 23.3 billion in 2005, says the just-released MPAA annual theatrical market statistics report.

Slashdot it!

Also See:
Agence France-Presse – Canada must beef up copyright laws to stem piracy: US envoy, March 1, 2007
failed to deliver – Canada arouses corporate ire, February 15, 2007
10 years inside – ART Act passes, June 26, 2004
Michael Geist – U.S. Senators Pressure Prime Minister on Movie Camcording, March 6, 2007
ruined by file sharers – Hollywood insider in upload scandal, February 23, 2007
all-time high – Hollywood reports record revenues, March 6, 2007

If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the end (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!

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