DIGITAL FRONTIER PROVIDES AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKERS WITH OPPORTUNITIES BUT NOT WITHOUT SERIOUS THREATS

MPAA President and COO Bob Pisano Gives Sydney Film Festival Ian McPherson Memorial Lecture

Hong Kong / Australia – The President and Chief Operating Officer of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), Bob Pisano, presented the Ian McPherson Memorial Lecture at the Dendy Cinemas, Opera Quays in Sydney yesterday.

The Ian McPherson Memorial Lecture serves as the keynote address of the Sydney Film Festival (SFF). Ian McPherson helped found the SFF in 1954, and previous McPherson lectures have been given by such luminaries as Dr. George Miller, Dennis O’Rourke and Deepak Nayar.

In his speech, Bob Pisano said that while digital technologies are presenting the industry with significant opportunities, that optimism should be countered by the reality of film piracy on the Internet. "Our No. 1 priority is content protection," said Pisano. "Enabling content creators to properly realize the legitimate, commercial return for their creative efforts lies at the heart of ensuring we continue to enjoy a healthy, vibrant film and television industry."

"New technologies are developing at a tremendous rate, and these are exciting times for all of us who want to see movies in a multitude of screen environments, at different times, and at different price points. That is a seductive world to find ourselves in. However, movie piracy is seriously undermining our experience and threatens the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people, from the student with the part time job at the local DVD rental store, to the television lighting technician, and the make up artist on a feature film. As such it is our responsibility to do all we can to ensure a vibrant future for our creative industries."

Pisano is a 30 year veteran of the motion picture industry. Earlier in his career, Pisano was a partner at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, before becoming a senior executive at Paramount Pictures and later serving as Vice-Chairman of MGM. Prior to join the MPA, Pisano was Chief Executive Officer of the Screen Actors Guild. He is in Sydney as a guest of the Sydney Film Festival.

 

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Piracy in Asia

A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry including, for the first time, losses due to internet piracy, recently calculated that the MPA studios lost US$6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005. About US$2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging*, US$1.4 billion to illegal copying* and US$2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the US$6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate US$1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the U.S. accounted for US$1.3 billion.

In 2007, the MPA’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated more than 36,200 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 13,000 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 31 million illegal optical discs, 40 factory optical disc production lines and 6,400 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 10,000 legal actions.

*Bootlegging: Obtaining movies by either purchasing an illegally copied VHS/DVD/VCD or acquiring hard copies of bootleg movies. *Illegal copying: Making illegal copies for self or receiving illegal copies from friends of a legitimate VHS/DVD/VCD. *Internet piracy: Obtaining movies by either downloading them from the Internet without paying or acquiring hard copies of illegally downloaded movies from friends or family. About AFACT: AFACT works closely with industry, government, police and educational institutions to address copyright theft and protect the interests of the film and television industry as well as the interests of Australian movie fans. In 2007, state and federal police conducted 85 raids involving movie piracy and seized over 585,000 pirated DVDs. They also seized 459 burners capable of producing over eleven million pirated DVDs a year with a potential street value of over $57 million. AFACT acts on behalf of the 50,000 Australians directly impacted by copyright theft including independent cinemas, video rental stores and film and television producers across the country. AFACT has its own anti-piracy hotline: 1800 251 996. About the MPA: The Motion Picture Association and Motion Picture Association - International (MPA) represent the interests of major motion picture companies in the global marketplace. On behalf of its member companies, the MPA conducts investigations around the world, assists with the criminal and civil litigation generated by such cases, and conducts education outreach programs to teach movie fans around the world about the harmful effects of piracy. The MPA directs its worldwide anti-piracy operations from its headquarters based in Los Angeles, California and has regional offices located in Brussels (Europe, Middle East and Africa), São Paulo (Latin America), Montreal (Canada) and Singapore (Asia-Pacific). The MPA’s anti-piracy activities have helped to transform entire markets from pirate to legitimate, benefiting video distributors, retailers, and foreign and local filmmakers alike. The MPA member companies include: Buena Vista International, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation; Twentieth Century Fox International Corporation; Universal International Films, Inc.; and Warner Bros. Pictures International, a division of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. For more information about the MPA, please visit www.mpa-i.org.

 

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For more information, contact:

Edward Neubronner
MPA Asia-Pacific
65-6253-1033

Margaret Fu
MPA Asia-Pacific
852-2785-8677

Adrianne Pecotic
AFACT
61-2-9777-8011

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