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EMA Position Statement on Anti-Camcording Statutes
Piracy is the gravest threat facing the home video industry. Any form of video piracy - illegal file-sharing or illegally reproduced DVDs and tapes - harms the creators of the works, the copyright holders, and most immediately, retailers. Because a camcorder copy of a movie is generally destined to be used as a master from which numerous copies will be made and distributed, either online or on DVDs, EMA supports making the camcording of a motion picture in a theater a crime.
The economics of the motion picture industry depend on the orderly release of movies through various distribution channels. Normally, movies appear first in theaters, then several months later on home video, and ultimately on video-on-demand, pay-per-view, premium cable, and other services. When illegal camcorder copies of movies are available on the Internet or street corners as soon as they are released in theaters (and sometimes before), legitimate retailers are irreparably harmed.
Online piracy, because of the ease with which millions of copies can be transmitted around the globe, is a particularly ominous threat to everyone in the home video industry. It is estimated that 90% of the movies illegally available online are pirated using camcorders in theaters. If online piracy is allowed to go unchallenged, the financial health of video retailers as well as the motion picture studios will be endangered, which in turn will undermine their ability to provide consumers with the movies they enjoy.
EMA Position Statement on Digital Piracy
As a representative of retailers of copyrighted material, the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) supports strong and effective laws against video piracy and aggressive enforcement of those laws. At the same time, EMA believes Congress should ensure that consumers continue to benefit from strong competition in the home video industry and can continue to use and enjoy video products as they lawfully do today.
Digital locks can control and prevent the lawful use, resale, and rental of digital entertainment. Technology exists today to lock-up DVDs and digital downloads so they can only be played once or twice, or will only work for 24 hours after a consumer starts watching them. Similarly, there is technology to lock a DVD or download to the first machine on which it is played. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), it is a federal crime for a consumer to remove technological locks from DVDs or digital downloads that they bought and paid for.
In enacting the DMCA, Congress did not intend to alter the balance of rights reserved by the Copyright Act to copyright holders and consumers, nor did it intend to harm competition and consumer choice in the retailing of home entertainment products. The focus of security technology for digital entertainment must remain on deterring piracy, and not on protecting business models. Specifically, emerging new technologies for video, including digital distribution, must respect the rights of retailers under the first sale doctrine and the fair use rights of consumers. There is no sound reason that consumers should have more limited rights in digital video products than they currently have in analog products.
EMA believes at least four courses of action to address digital piracy must be pursued:
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1. Consumers must be educated about the impact of piracy on the economy and consumers;
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2. The entertainment industry must support the prosecution of infringers who make movies and music available through file swapping services and those who download illegal copies;
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3. Congress must ensure that laws in the U.S. and across the globe provide adequate deterrence against copyright infringement, as well as efficient and swift justice, while protecting lawful uses; and
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4. Consumers must be provided choices among multiple lawful alternatives to file-swapping, based on diverse and competitive business models that empower consumers to choose lawful alternatives to movie and music theft.
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EMA stands ready to work with Congress and our industry partners to protect entertainment from online piracy and to ensure that the public continues to benefit from vigorous competition in the retailing of motion pictures and retains, without diminution, the same rights to use and enjoy digital products as they do with analog products today.
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