Mayor Bloomberg, MPAA Announce Anti-Piracy Initiative

NEW YORK, October 23: New York City Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg and the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting (MOFTB) are
working with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on an anti-piracy
initiative that will cover legislative efforts as well as a series of PSAs.

The MPAA estimates that New York City theaters are the
origin of 43 percent of camcorder-source pirated DVDs tracked in the U.S., and
20 percent of pirated movies seized globally.

The City intends to introduce legislation to amend the penal
law so that those engaged in piracy will face a class A misdemeanor, punishable
by up to one year in prison if convicted, and a class E felony, punishable by
up to four years in prison, for any subsequent convictions.

The MPAA and NYPD will now employ a new tool to combat
piracy. Similar in design to the City’s Trademark Counterfeiting Initiative,
the MPAA, NYPD, and Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) will work together to
identify buildings in New York City where suspected DVD piracy operations are
located. Once those buildings are identified, the city will begin legal actions
against landlords or owners who knowingly allow piracy operations to remain on
their premises.

Additionally, the City will work with the MPAA to create and
implement a public service campaign to educate New York consumers about piracy.
The campaign, which will include print, radio, television, and Internet public
service announcements, will be financed by the MPAA in consultation with the
City.

“We are leading the fight against movie piracy in the city
with our unique efforts aimed at protecting local theaters’ box office revenues
and maintaining the strength of the film industry, which pumps $5 billion in
economic activity into the city each year and employs 100,000 New Yorkers,”
said Mayor Bloomberg. “Supporting the entertainment industry is a vital part of
my Administration’s five-borough economic development strategy, and we need to ensure
that New Yorkers from every background have access to the jobs the film,
television and commercial industry is creating.”

Commissioner Katherine Oliver of the MOFTB added, “Last
year, New York City posted 31,570 film, television and commercial location
shooting days, our highest number on record. The extraordinary results we have
achieved in attracting jobs and revenue to the City are the result of following
through on requests and recommendations made in our last entertainment summit.
Through these piracy and diversity initiatives, we will ensure that our local
production industry remains strong.”