The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association (and its parent MPAA), which represents the major Hollywood studios, is one of the leading voices for DMCA-style legislation. It is also one of the most effective Canadian lobby groups as evidenced by the amazing speed with which it convinced Canada to become one of the only countries in the world to enact specific anti-camcording legislation (what made it particularly remarkable was that Canadian officials believed for months that the law already addressed the issue and the industry did little more than provide wildly inconsistent statistics and threaten to withhold some film screenings).
Interestingly, while the CMPDA claims that it needs stronger enforcement powers in Canada, David Allsebrook, a top IP lawyer with LudlowLaw, points out in his forthcoming submission to the copyright consultation that the industry has seemingly little interest in pursuing criminal copyright cases in Canada. Allsebrook highlights the fact that the movie industry does not appear to regularly register its own films with CIPO. Although registration is not required under the law, it is pretty standard if one anticipates possible enforcement action. As Allsebrook notes:
The MPAA is trying to manoeuvre Canada and all other countries into enforcing its members’ rights for them, at the countries’ expense. MPAA members have no intention of seeking criminal prosecution for copyright infringement of their movies in Canada. The MPAA’s strategy can be simply demonstrated. In order to prove criminal copyright infringement in Canada, the first step is to file in evidence a Canadian copyright registration, because it substitutes for expensive witnesses as proof of the existence and ownership of copyright, unless there is a reason to question its veracity. However to be admissible the copyright must have been registered in Canada before the infringement took place. The ten top-grossing movies of 2009, as of the end of july, were all produced by members of the MPAA. Only three of the ten movies’ copyrights were registered in Canada by that time. The registration fee is $50.00, and registration may be done very simply, and online, from anywhere in the world.
The lack of registration is particularly telling since the MPAA believes that 90 percent of its piracy comes from copies of movies made by videotaping a showing of the movie in a cinema. The most damaging piracy takes place at the beginning of the film’s release, when the infringing copies can circulate around the world electronically long before the film is exhibited or authorized copies released internationally. The MPAA members have not taken the most basic step towards stopping this activity in Canadian Courts.
I conducted a similar review of the top 10 grossing U.S. films as of last week. At the moment, only half have Canadian copyright registrations.
| Top 10 U.S. Grossing Movies (2009) | Canadian Copyright Registration |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | No |
| Up | Yes |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | No |
| The Hangover | No |
| Star Trek | No |
| Monsters Vs. Aliens | No |
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Yes |
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Yes |
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian | Yes |
| Fast and Furious | No |
Allsebrook continues by noting that the MPAA/CMPDA has emphasized the need for stronger border measures and customs seizures, all of which shifts the cost of enforcement from the Hollywood studios to the Canadian taxpayer. The CMPDA has used the copyright consultation to argue for anti-circumvention legislation and greater ISP policing, yet it appears that its own members don't even fully use the most basic of Canadian copyright protections – the registration of their films.
I guess they are just too busy sending lobbyists to the roundtables and laundering their policies through the Conference Board, CACN, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, etc.
MPAA wants a Rogers Cable TV Multimedia Intenet -and YOU’LL PAY for it !!!
Lets all try ‘n practice what we preach too.
I’m goin’ outta the box here for a minute.
Its kinda funny, but (since I use Ubuntu 64-bit) on my PC and I come to michaelgeist.ca and there it is. “… blah blah YOU NEED ADOBE FLASH PLAYER TO VIEW THIS SITE…”
comon’ Michael, you can find better “non-proprietary” webmasters than this ? 🙂
Notwithstanding, Michael, I would just like to say thanks again for this very open Blog, and the news/info/issues here are so dead-ON !! -keep up the good fight.
Now, back in the box again, its simple to see here, these MPAA’s, … all of them, along with our infamous Duopoly ISP’s, and Adobe, and Microsoft, and Sony, and… want nuthin’ less than their new “Web Skrewology’s” to bring your monthly Internet rates up to mucho dollaro heights.
These corps have obvisouly declared war on us even though WE PAY THEM !!!
“… greater ISP Policing…” ? ohhh, thats what their calling it now. mmmm hehehe
If they all really cared soo much about their films then they would have made a player/media “ONLY” for their precious films, with a media that won’t even work in any PC, …BUT STAY OUT OF OUR INTENET then !!!
But wait, the exact opposite has happened ! why ? why is DVD blank media only pennies each ? …
Its all about Marketing, Advertising, and Politics people. -yup, the oldest profession in the World.
🙂
cheers.
i don’t get the point – are you saying that they should be prosecuting more often? because if they do then i imagine you’ll be criticizing them for that too
Careful here…
Michael, I looked at your list here… CIPO registration seems to be more related to the company than MPAA membership.
Movie Studio CIPO MPAA member
Transformers Dreamworks No No
Up Disney Yes Yes
Harry Potter Warner Bros No Yes
Hangover Warner Bros No Yes
Star Trek Paramount No Yes
Monsters Dreamworks No No
Ice Age Blue Sky Yes No
X-Men 20th Century Fox Yes Yes
Night/Museum 20th Century Fox Yes Yes
Fast/Furious Neal H Moritz No No
Studio source: IMDB. MPAA membership was the MPAA website… since they don’t seem to have a list of all members, the info came from the “About Us”… “Members Page”.
“the MPAA believes that 90 percent of its piracy comes from copies of movies made by videotaping a showing of the movie in a cinema”
Lol, they can’t possibly!
Oh this is rich….
So basicaly, the CMPDA seem to be rather intent one Candian Tax payers flipping the bill for something that they themselves has no energy in presuing.
Does anyone one else seem to notice the utter farce here?
…
Seriously, if movie-makers want to crack-down on copyright infringement, go after China first. That is where a huge majority of leaked/taped material come from, and that’s why Chinese DVD shops are always loaded with pirated material. They aren’t even trying to hide it, and the authorities sure don’t seem to care (or at least take any action).
I don’t know what kind of faulty software they’re using to track unauthorized distribution of copyright material online, but they should at least fix it if they ever consider getting ISP’s to disconnect our Internet. Seriously, many of the notices they send are completely wrong. And, sometimes they don’t even leave a proper way for you to contact them about the case. I hope they don’t think people will just sit around and take it if their Internet get cut-off erroneously.
And, they need to stop trying to steal our tax-money. There are better things that our tax-money should be spent on than paying companies that are already profiting off of us.
Legislation for Sale
THe MPAA paid good money for its Canadian camcorder law – why on Earth should they have to pay again to copyright their films?
Barrister and Solicitor, Ludlowlaw.
Actually, copyright registrations are equally useful to get civil remedies such as damages for infringement, injunction to cease infringing, and a civil court order permitting the seizure of counterfeit goods, such as is used in co-operation with Customs and the RCMP if the movie producers were inclined to cooperate with them. Obviously it is not a high priority.
What it means is that the MPAA cannot claim that the existing copyright remedies are inadequate or ineffective- their members do not use them, because, like all litigants, they would have to pay lawyers, go to a lot of trouble and expense, and risk losing.
I understand my submission will be posted with the effective date of August 10. They are up to the 9th, so it will presumably be in the next batch.
Barrister and Solicitor, Ludlowlaw.
Actually, copyright registrations are equally useful to get civil remedies such as damages for infringement, injunction to cease infringing, and a civil court order permitting the seizure of counterfeit goods, such as is used in co-operation with Customs and the RCMP if the movie producers were inclined to cooperate with them. Obviously it is not a high priority.
What it means is that the MPAA cannot claim that the existing copyright remedies are inadequate or ineffective- their members do not use them, because, like all litigants, they would have to pay lawyers, go to a lot of trouble and expense, and risk losing.
I understand my submission will be posted with the effective date of August 10. They are up to the 9th, so it will presumably be in the next batch.
Berne
If the films are registered in the U.S. or another Berne Convention signatory country, the copyrights are still actionable in Canada. Thus, the effort of registering in Canada is not needed.
Berne is correct.
The MPAA should be looking to strengthening laws that deal with counterfeiting and fraud – people taking illegal copies and then selling them in the black market for $5-10 or trying to pass them off as legitimate versions at full price of $20-40. I also don’t understand their logic when research shows P2P sharing of movies increases ticket sales at the box office because it stimulates interest in theatre. People who buy movies do so because they like owning them. People who watch pirated movies are not lost sales because even if it wasn’t available P2P, they would never have purchased/rented movies to begin with. That’s a fact MPAA is ignoring.
What I also don’t understand is that MPAA can spend millions lobbying Ottawa but all you have to do it go to eBay and purchase any movie in exact quality format from Hong Kong at a fraction of the price.
Their logic is so out of wack with reality I’m wondering who is really piloting the MPAA ship.