U.S. economy losing more than $20B to film piracy: report
Last Updated: Sunday, October 1, 2006 | 2:50 PM ET
CBC Arts
The American economy loses about $20.5 billion US a year in lost wages, jobs, business and taxes to movie piracy, according to a new report by a think tank.
The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) released its survey this week based on findings from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). IPI describes itself as a non-partisan public policy organization which supports less regulation and lower taxes.
"It is no longer acceptable to consider counterfeiting and piracy just another cost of doing business," the study said.
It concluded the money was lost among many sectors connected with movie-making and distributing: theatre operators, video retailers, advertising, lawyers, janitors and suppliers.
"This really impacts everyday folks," said Bartlett Cleland, head of IPI, which said the study was self-funded.
Other findings by IPI about movie piracy:
- American workers had $5.5 billion in lost earnings.
- 141,030 jobs were not created.
- Movie studios lose 10 per cent of potential revenue to piracy.
The industry has been waging war against illegal DVDs of movies, usually secretly filmed in cinemas and then distributed around the world. Two-thirds of pirated films are produced this way, while the rest are downloaded over the internet and shared.
"Motion picture piracy hurts not only the movie business, but triggers a harmful domino effect," said Dan Glickman, chair of the MPAA, in a statement.
To get around bootleggers, Warner Bros. recently announced it would launch an early release of a Mandarin-dubbed version of Superman Returns in China to head off any piracy. Each DVD will be priced at less than $2.
"You have to go at the piracy problem with a business solution," said Mark Horak, the vice-president of Warner Home Video in Asia and Latin America.
The film industry has pinpointed China as a major piracy hotspot. The MPAA says Hollywood loses nearly $2.7 billion annually to Chinese piracy.
