http://news.com.com/Hollywood+lawsuits+to+strike+Net+pirates/2100-1025_3-5438931.html
Hollywood lawsuits to strike Net pirates
Published: November 4, 2004, 2:38 PM PST
By Declan McCullagh
Hollywood studios are about to take the long-anticipated step of firing
a barrage of lawsuits at some of the most prolific Internet pirates,
echoing the legal strategy that the recording industry already has used
with limited success.
The civil lawsuits, which will be filed against individual movie
file-swappers starting Nov. 16, represent a kind of legal escalation for
an industry that fears its films eventually may be shared on the
Internet as widely as songs are today.
[...]
press release:
Studios to Begin Suing Illegal Film File Swappers
Governor, Legislators, Studio Executives, Union Leaders, Filmmakers and
Others Back Movie Industry in Actions Against Traffickers
LOS ANGELES - The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. today
announced its lawyers will expand the MPAA’s campaign to prevent film
piracy, working with its members and other film studios to file
lawsuits against people who have illegally traded digital copies of
movies over the Internet.
“Illegal movie trafficking represents the greatest threat to the
economic basis of moviemaking in its 110-year history,” said MPAA
President and CEO Dan Glickman, who was joined during the announcement
by studio executives, union leaders, filmmakers and others. “People who
have been stealing our movies believe they are anonymous on the
Internet, and wouldn’t be held responsible for their actions. They are
wrong. We know who they are, and we will go after them, as these suits
will prove.”
The studio lawsuits were announced at the renowned School of Theater,
Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, one
of the nation’s great training grounds for future filmmakers, whose
ability to pursue their careers is threatened by the impacts of piracy.
As well, UCLA has been a leader nationwide in efforts to clamp down on
improper use of campus resources, implementing forward-thinking policies
and technologies that quarantine traders of illegally copied movies and
music, restricting their Internet access until offending material is
removed from their computers. The University of California system as a
whole has partnered with the MPAA and its member studios, sharing
information on illegal file-sharing trends and indicators, developing
policy recommendations and testing pilot projects.
A recent federal interagency report estimates that counterfeit and
pirated goods, including those of copyrighted works, cost the American
economy $250 billion a year. In response to the report, the U.S.
Justice Department and other federal agencies have committed to
increased law-enforcement and prosecutorial efforts against pirated and
counterfeit goods. The MPAA estimates “hard goods” movie piracy costs
the film industry $3.5 billion a year. That total does not include
losses from hundreds of thousands of illegal downloads swapped over the
Internet each day.
“We all know that digital distribution is the wave of the future, and
the studios have all supported legal download services in various
ways,” Glickman said. “But we cannot allow illegal trafficking to
derail legitimate new technologies that provide consumers with
affordable, convenient access to high-quality movies on the Web. Trading
a digital file of a movie online without paying its owners is no
different than walking into a store and shoplifting a DVD.”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a member of both the Screen
Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America, endorsed the
announcement, which meshes with his own recent initiatives against
illegal file-swapping.
“I applaud the decision by the MPAA and its member companies to take
strong action,” Gov. Schwarzenegger said, “and I join the U.S.
Department of Justice, the State of California, the recording industry
and others in making sure that people use the great promise of the
Internet responsibly and ethically, and that motion pictures remain an
important part of California and the nation’s economy in the decades to
come.”
The governor recently signed a bill making it a misdemeanor to swap
movies or music online without revealing the trader’s e-mail address.
The governor also issued an executive order banning the use of state
resources, including computers and Internet access, to illegally swap
copyrighted material.
“The movie industry has contributed immeasurably to California’s
economic strength,” said Schwarzenegger. “It has also helped many of my
own dreams come true. We cannot let illegal movie piracy continue or it
will cripple this important industry and seriously hurt California’s
economy. We must teach our children that the illegal downloading of
movies and music is wrong, and that it has consequences.”
The creative industries – including book publishing, music,
video, television and movies – are the single largest sector of the
U.S. economy, generating more than 5 percent of American gross domestic
product. The copyright industries also comprise the only U.S. industry
sector to run a trade surplus with every other country in the world.
“Our members are the artists who conceive and create entertainment
content consumed by millions of people around the globe,” said Daniel
Petrie Jr., president of the Writers Guild of America, West. “Online
piracy takes income directly out of real people’s pockets.”
“IATSE represents many of the nearly 1 million people whose
livelihoods depend on the work they do in many roles behind the camera
for the movie business,” said Thomas C. Short, international president
of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “People
who steal films online threaten the economic security of these master
craftsmen, technicians and artisans and their families. Their work and
creative efforts deserve to be protected.”
For decades, the MPAA has staunchly fought piracy in many forms,
facing both the challenges and the opportunities of new technologies
and movie formats, whether on celluloid, television, satellite, cable
TV, videocassettes, DVDs or online. This latest enforcement step will
help ensure a bright future for movies in the digital era. Lawsuits
will be filed against individual file-swappers across the country
beginning Nov. 16 by MPAA member companies. The civil suits seek
damages and injunctive relief
. Under the Copyright Act, statutory damages can be as much as $30,000
for each separate motion picture illegally copied or distributed by an
individual over the Internet, and as much as $150,000 per motion
picture if such infringement is proven to be willful.
“Filing suit against movie thieves is our latest step in a
wide-ranging, multi-pronged antipiracy effort, but far from our first,”
Glickman said. “But file-swapping is a viral threat that we must bring
under control now. File traders must realize that bad things happen
when you steal copyrighted material. These lawsuits are just one of
those bad things.” The studios have embraced the digital era on many
fronts while confronting its challenges. Those efforts have included
building public awareness and expanding and supporting legal online
movie services such as MovieLink, CinemaNow and Moviebeam. And film
fans already can see movies in many different ways, for many different
prices, in many different settings, ranging from theatrical releases in
a state-of-the-art cinema to DVDs and VHS tape sales and rentals to
video-on-demand services, pay-cable and free broadcast TV offerings.
The Motion Picture Association of America is the leading voice and
advocate for the American motion picture, home video and television
industries. Its members include Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Sony
Pictures Entertainment Inc., Metro-GoldwynMayer Studios Inc., Paramount
Pictures Corporation, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal
City Studios LLLP and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. More information
on piracy is available on the MPAA web site at www.mpaa.org
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