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NEWSPAPER REVEALS THAT GREAT PART OF AMERICAN PIRACY IS ORIGINATED IN CANADA

It is not only with always shorter periods between the theatrical and DVD releases that distribution has to worry. There is the deeply rooted matter of international piracy. And an article published in the International Herald Tribune uncovers the myth that the greatest responsible for piracy is Asian market, at least for the USA. According to Ian Austen, the Ottawa correspondent, Canada is the biggest supplier of pirate products for the North American market.

Austen comments that the country boasts of being a paradise of cinema production. However, according to an analysis by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), between 30 and 40% of pirate DVDs collected and bought in the USA were created using illegally admitted camcorders in Canadian movie theaters. Two factors contribute to this scenario: big openings are usually simultaneous in both countries, and the technical quality of Canadian piracy is one of the best in the world.

As a reaction, 20th Century Fox is considering making it more difficult for its films to open in the country. Besides that, the domestic cinematographic industry has been demanding stricter laws to control the situation – laws on the matter are light-years before the laws in the neighbor country. As an immediate way to diminish this transgression, at least one theater circuit in Canada has equipped its employees with night vision glasses to identify anyone using electronic equipment during projections. “Professional” piracy in Canada worries even more, as, statistically, the country holds almost 10% of the American box-office of a film.