AFTRA, MPAA and Sony Pictures Entertainment were among more than a dozen industry groups who on Wednesday sent a letter to Congress expressing a desire to work with lawmakers to update intellectual property law and strengthen piracy enforcement.
“In the case of the entertainment industry, the theft of motion picture and television productions threatens the economic vitality of our business, and the millions of American working men, women and local small businesses that depend on it,” the coalition said. In the letter, the groups said that they support the federal government’s efforts thus far.
In November 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 82 website domains involved in selling counterfeit goods and copyrighted works. The industry credits ICE's efforts to protect intellectual property with putting illegal sites out of business and raising public awareness about online piracy.
“Stealing and illegally selling this content may appear to be victimless crimes or a harmless form of theft, but they are neither. If it is not made clear that this kind of activity is illegal, it has the potential to become the harbinger of even more forms of illegal activity on the Internet,” the groups said.
According to a January 2011 report by Envisional, an independent Internet consulting company, more than 17 percent of U.S. Internet traffic infringes upon a copyright, with the majority of it taking place on peer-to-peer networks. Films represent more than a third of the material shared in these networks, the report found.
“This is a level of theft that cannot be sustained without significant damage to the motion picture industry, the workforce it supports and the American economy,” the groups said.
Other organizations that signed the letter include, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group; Directors Guild of America; Independent Film & Television Alliance; International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees; National Assn. of Theatre Owners; News Corp.; Screen Actor’s Guild; Universal Studios; Viacom; Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
