June 3, 2007
Canada seeks to shed image of movie-pirate haven
According to Reuters, Canada introduced legislation on Friday that will make camcording of films in theaters a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
"Similar to measures enacted or introduced in the United States, Japan and Mexico, it is meant to clamp down on piracy estimated to cost the movie industry $6 billion worldwide and to cost $225 million in lost consumer spending in Canada.
In Canada, it had been illegal under the Copyright Act to camcord a movie for commercial use but it was almost impossible to prove people caught making such a recording were doing it for commercial distribution. They could also be ejected under trespass legislation but their recordings could not be seized.
Now, just recording the film will be subject to up to two years in prison and doing it for commercial distribution could face five years.
Oda said that after the United States made it a criminal offense in 2005, pirates shifted to Canada, which the industry estimates has now become the origin of 20 to 25 percent of pirated films."
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