Warner Bros. Ceases Screenings in Canada

BURBANK, May 9: In response to a growing number of pirated
movies illegally recorded in Canadian theaters, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada is
canceling all promotional and word-of-mouth screenings on all of its
forthcoming releases, effective immediately.

The policy will be implemented with the studio's next
release, Ocean's Thirteen, and will be
in effect for all films from Warner Independent Pictures and Warner Bros.
Pictures, including the July 13 release of Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix. The policy is in response
to the lack of legislation in Canada to stop camcorder-shot films being
trafficked around the world. Over the last 18 months roughly 70 percent of
Warner Bros. titles released have been camcorded in Canada, the studio said in
announcing its move.

"Canada is the number one priority in terms of
anti-camcording legislation," said Darcy Antonellis, the senior VP of
worldwide anti-piracy operations at Warner Bros. Entertainment and executive VP
of distribution and technology operations at Warner Bros. Technical Operations.
"Within the first week of a film's release, you can almost be certain that
somewhere out there a Canadian copy will show up. Within the last 12 to 18
months we've seen a significant increase in terms of first-source proliferation
that shows up on the Internet and subsequently shows up as hard goods
elsewhere."

"We regret having to cancel our screenings in Canada
but our studio must take steps to protect not only our branded assets but our
commitment to our filmmakers and to theaters all over the world," added
Dan Fellman, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Domestic, a division of
Warner Bros. Distributing Inc. "We've been working collaboratively with
the exhibitors to encourage the government to put additional measures in place
to deter and stop camcording."

For the past two years, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada has
been working with the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association (CMPDA),
lobbying the Canadian government to make the act of camcording a punishable
offense.