A visit from the Terminator was enough to get Prime Minister Stephen Harper to announce a plan to crack down on film piracy.

Harper made the pledge to strengthen Canada's laws dealing with camcording in cinemas during a visit from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Prime Minister Stephen Harper chat prior to their meeting in Ottawa Wednesday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

The film industry, and especially the big Hollywood studios, have been lobbying the government on the issue for years, saying lax laws here have turned Canada into a hotbed for piracy.

Sources in Canada and the U.S. say Harper raised the issue with Schwarzenegger when the movie action hero was in his office during the Wednesday visit.

"We think it's a good first step," said one American official of Harper's proposal for amending the Criminal Code.

The prime minister is proposing an amendment to the code to make it illegal to tape in theatres.

It is already illegal to distribute unauthorized material, but law enforcement officials say current law makes it difficult to arrest people caught with camcorders at the movies.

A report by a U.S. group trying to combat piracy estimates movie copying costs Hollywood more than $6 billion US a year.

Canada is on a "priority watch list" for countries with high rates of piracy and earlier this month, Warner Brothers announced it would cancel preview screenings in Canada of its summer blockbusters until Canadian law is changed.

Schwarzenegger is on a three-day tour of Canada and announced deals with the Ontario government on climate change and stem cell research on Wednesday.

He flies to Vancouver on Thursday for a meeting with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell to discuss climate change.