Piracy is Stealing, Pure and Simple

Motion picture piracy is not something we, or our politicians, can ignore. Piracy is a serious crime. We, our union brothers and sisters, and about a million hard working men and women, are its victims. This year alone, the movie industry will lose 6 billion dollars because of piracy! That is 6 billion dollars stolen from the pockets of the hard working employees who toil every day to make stories come alive on the big-screen. You see, the majority of the workers hurt by piracy are not the big-name actors or the wealthy producers – they make up only a small percentage of the motion picture workforce. The people who are hurt the most are the ones working behind-the-scenes: us – each and every one of our members.

What is piracy? Piracy is stealing, pure and simple. Anyone who sells, acquires, copies, or distributes copyrighted materials without permission is a thief. Downloading a movie without paying for it is the same as stealing a DVD off the shelf of a store. Making movies available on the internet for downloading, selling pirated DVDs on the street, or taping (also known as camcording) and redistributing movies, live broadcasts or performances without a license are all forms of motion picture piracy. Downloading movies and music without the authorization of copyright holders is a growing international problem and we need to take action. Did you know that camcorded films in Canadian theatres account for almost 50% of camcord sources worldwide? Canada is not alone. The United States has been fighting back against camcording and 38 states have implemented legislation making camcording a crime.

What can we do? First, we need to educate ourselves, our families, and our friends. We need to stop the theft we know about. We need to recognize piracy and who it actually hurts and inform those around us about the facts. Just as this society punishes bank robbers, this society should punish with just as much force those pirates who rob us.

Second, we must demand that our state and federal politicians either sponsor or support stronger legislation protecting intellectual property. We have the obligation to require them to strengthen laws that protect us, especially since we were responsible for electing and re-electing these politicians. We need to question our lawmakers and demand to know what they are doing about this problem. After all, the movie industry is a significant portion of the economy: it accounts for about 1.3 million jobs, pays $30.24 billion in wages, and pays $10 billion in federal and state taxes a year. We all benefit from a thriving movie industry. The loss of $6 billion in one year to piracy is unacceptable. How do our politicians respond when Wal-Mart or oil companies ask for help? Why should our industry command any less of their attention? Think about it; then take action.