Entertainment Legal News

Senators Feinstein and Cornyn Call on Canada Prime Minister to Help Stop Video Piracy

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, calling his attention to the dramatic increase in movie piracy that has occurred in Canada since the United States enacted tougher laws and penalties.

Senators Feinstein and Cornyn called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to 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 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,” Senator Feinstein said.  “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 recording, we are afraid that illegal pirating will continue to mushroom in your country.”

Senators Feinstein and Cornyn introduced the Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention Act (ART Act) in 2003. The legislation was signed into law in April 2005 as part of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005. Read more at feinstein.senate.gov.

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	Did You Know?
	The title of Option is a defined factor When a creative entity, such as producer, artist, or studio, discovers a property and evaluates the rights status, they will, in most cases, attempt to negotiate an 'option' for the rights. An option is the right to acquire ownership of an intellectual property for a pre-determined amount of time. Size of the option payment often determines length of the agreement as well as how many forms of the rights will be included in the deal. While most option payments are subject to negotiation, script deals often work out to an even percentage of the purchase price.