Hollywood studios get ready to sue online movie pirates

by Joe Lepper,, Brand Republic 05-Nov-04, 14:00

NEW YORK – Hollywood film studios are to take legal action against people who swap fake copies of films over the internet, as part of a crackdown on movie piracy.

The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the major Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros, which is behind 'The Lord of the Rings', Sony and Buena Vista, which produced 'Pirates of the Carribean', has pledged to begin filing civil law suits in courts across the US later this month against hundreds of online pirates.

The organisation says it will follow procedures already well used in the US to combat illegal music trading and will seek to force ISPs to hand over the names of suspected pirates. For those people who are pursued through the courts, damages will be sought of up to $30,000 (£16,000) a film.

According to Reuters, in announcing the crackdown MPAA president and CEO Dan Glickman said: "If we don't act now, the consequences will be devastating to the entire film industry. This is about protecting something that all Americans hold dear: consumer choice, artistic creativity and economic growth.

"They can not happen if the creators' ability to come up with these works of art are impinged by the fact that they are being distributed for free around the world."

The MPAA estimates that studios lose around $3.5bn a year in piracy of bootlegged DVDs but does not have figures for internet-related losses.

This crackdown is seen as vital because broadband technology makes the downloading of movies faster and easier.

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