Online movie pirates will pay, vows MPAA

05-11-2004

by Deirdre McArdle

The film industry has followed the lead of the record industry by saying that it will begin prosecuting people who illegally swap movie files over the internet.

In a bid to curtail the increasing amount of illegal film file-sharing, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced it will be taking a hard-line approach to those using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to unlawfully distribute pirate copies of movies over the internet from 16 November. Movie industry associations, including the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, have said the MPAA had no choice but to take this action.

Estimates from the MPAA show that "hard goods" movie piracy costs the film industry USD3.5 billion annually; this figure does not include losses from the thousands of illegal movie downloads swapped online every day. In September, around 44,052,830 feature movie files were on P2P networks around the world, according to P2P research company Big Champagne.

Online movie piracy does not just affect the deep pockets of Hollywood, it also has negative connotations for local businesses like video stores. The Video Software Dealers Association estimates that the illegal downloading of movies is currently costing every video store in the US, on average, more than USD10,000 annually.

"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," said Dan Glickman, MPAA president and CEO.

The association warned users of P2P networks that it is using a company to track the occurrence of film theft on such P2P networks as KaZaa, eDonkey and Gnutella. The company will be searching for users selling one or more MPAA member movies and will be seeking to locate their IP address and begin to take action against them.

Come 16 November, the MPAA will be filing civil suits against individuals involved in digital movie piracy and will be looking for damages and injunctive relief. Under the Copyright Act, statutory damages can be as much as USD30,000 for each movie illegally copied or distributed by an individual online, and as much as USD150,000 per film if such infringement is proven to be deliberate.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) initiated the use of civil lawsuits to target people who were illegally sharing music files through P2P networks and has sued in excess of 3,000 people to date. The actions by the RIAA appear to have had an impact as the percentage of internet users in the US who download music files fell by almost half to 14 percent in the last two months of 2003, compared to 35 percent in the earlier half of 2003, according to a survey of 1,358 internet users by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.