Movie Anti-Piracy Legislation Tabled in Parliament

On June 1, 2007, the Canadian federal government introduced Bill C-59 in Parliament to criminalize unauthorized camcording in movie theatres. It was probably not accidental that the introduction coincided with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to Ottawa, reflecting Hollywood's concern on the issue. As noted in the previous issue of E-TIPS® ("Federal Government to Change Canadian Copyright Law to Reduce Movie Theatre Piracy", Vol 5, No 23, May 23 2007), the US- based movie industry has complained about the inadequacy of Canadian laws to combat the recording of movies within movie theatres. Until now, movie theatres have been forced to rely on the law of trespass to simply eject movie pirates. Bill C-59 would amend the Criminal Code to create two new offences:

• the recording of a movie or its soundtrack in a movie theatre without the consent of the theatre manager, and
• the recording of a movie or its soundtrack in a movie theatre without the consent of the theatre manager for the purpose of selling, renting, or other commercial distribution of those unauthorized copies (emphasis added).

A conviction for an act of unauthorized camcording carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, but anyone convicted of camcording for commercial purposes could face imprisonment for a maximum of five years. The amendments will allow the courts to order anyone convicted of camcording to forfeit to the Crown any equipment used to commit the offence, provided that the property is owned by the convicted party. For the federal government's press release, see: http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/news-comm/CBO070615_e.htm For the text of Bill C-59, visit: http://tinyurl.com/37fq2t Summary by: Andrei Edwards and James Kosa