Warner Bros: Canada at the forefront of the DVD piracy market!
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/...da_film_piracy

TORONTO - Canadian film lovers hoping to catch an early peek at "Ocean's Thirteen" and the upcoming Harry Potter sequel will be out of luck after Warner Bros. canceled all of its advance screenings and accused Canada of being at the forefront of the piracy market.

Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros.' senior vice president of worldwide anti-piracy operations, defended the move Tuesday, saying weak Canadian copyright rules have made the country a haven for organized crime syndicates to make and sell illegal DVDs.

It is currently not a criminal offense in Canada to make recordings of movies in theaters for personal use. In order to prosecute a pirate, there must be proof that the copy of the film is being made for commercial purposes.

"Canada does have the highest camcording rate (by individuals in theaters) of any other territory," Antonellis said Tuesday by phone from Los Angeles.

"This is eliminating one of the avenues of leaks that we have already identified."

Warner Bros. said roughly 70 per cent of its releases have been pirated in Canada over the last 18 months.

The studio's ban on advance screenings, affecting roughly a dozen Canadian cities, will begin immediately. Movies affected include the upcoming Brad Pitt and George Clooney film "Ocean's Thirteen" and the hotly anticipated "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

The move is less severe than one proposed last year by 20th Century Fox, which threatened to push back the release date of its films in Canada over the same issue.

Ottawa-based copyright expert Michael Geist questioned Warner Bros.'s piracy accusations, noting that independent reports have suggested counterfeiting is far less severe than the film studios make them out to be.

Film writer Brian Johnson doubted the general public would even notice Warner Bros.' protest.

"I think it's a thin slice of the population who actually goes to those preview screenings," he said.

Oh Canada

Haha in Costa Rica I can go to ANY video store and rent spiderman 3 and 300. Movies hit video stores here the same day.

You can RENT pirated DVDs??? Now that is fucked up!

:Oh crap

Always the Canadians fault!!

I was just reading about this yesterday and almost posted about it...
It's not like there is a shortage of camcorders in US theaters.

Man, I'd love to be the company that "researches" this stuff for these studios

That is fucking sweet. I live in the wrong place. :(

I guess I'll have to download the movies if they push back the Canadian release dates...

I guess those people have never been on Canal Street in NYC!!

DVD DVD DVD DVD DVD!! That's all you hear.

I guess those little chinese women go to Canada to buy those DVDs.

hahahah.. pretty much eh

just another bs political statement about "canadian laws"

Weak laws have those effects.

lol. that guy must be a retard. I think a larger problem is the screeners that get sent out by the studio. I don't think that that many people enjoy watching a movie that has been filmed by a camcorder in the theatre (although I could be wrong). I personally can't stand watching movies like that.

I think the idea of releasing the movies later in Canada is not going to help the problem at all. All that does is alienate the people who are willing to go and spend the money to see the movie at the theatre.

Besides, the movie companies should be happy these days...what with dvds selling like they are going out of style. Perhaps studios should spend more time investing in what people actually want to watch rather than putting out virtually the same "blockbusters" every week.

hah, i never knew we had that law...very interesting!

Exactly .. Every video store here rents copies of screeners. If I was going to rip off people's content, I'd do it in Costa Rica. When the major studios and RIAA can't get anything done, there's no chance porn producers would be able to. :2 cents:

no doubt
anyone here been to Pacific Mall in Markham?

Personally I think that pushing back release dates would spur more people to find illegal copies.

:2 cents: