Warner Bros. announced today that they will be banning advanced previews and radio promotions of all of their films in Canada, starting with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Oceans Thirteen. The move was made in response to rampant bootlegging in Canada and weak enforcement of movie piracy on the part of the government, Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' president of theatrical distribution.In his announcement, Fellman pushed for legislation increasing the penalty for bootlegging in Canada. He said, "I hope it leads to some legislation, recognizing the plight that we all have, that proper laws are put into effect to protect the copyright that we enjoy. A lot of people in the motion picture industry are affected by lost revenue and I am sure the people in Canada recognize this is an illegal act and would like to see legislation preventing that from happening."
70% of Warner Bros. films have been pirated in Canada in the past 18 months. The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association estimates that this piracy accounts for $118 million in lost revenue.
(SOURCE: VERITASERUM)
No comments:
Post a Comment