RCMP takes on pirates
MONTREAL (CUP) — Over the past several weeks, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have arrested six movie pirates.
The RCMP announced on January 28 that four individuals allegedly involved in illegal distribution of counterfeit DVDs had been arrested. Two days later, they announced they seized over 12,000 pirated copies of new releases from two businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.
Piracy is the single largest threat to the motion picture industry in the United States, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
An industry report released in 2005 claimed piracy cost the major American motion picture studios $6.1 billion worldwide. Sixty-two per cent of the losses came from piracy of hard goods, such as DVDs. The other 38 per cent of losses come from Internet piracy.
Each pirated DVD the RCMP confiscated last month was allegedly being sold for between $4 and $7, making the total value of the bust somewhere between $48,000 and $84,000.
Marc LaPorte, RCMP media relations officer for Ontario, says the monetary value of seized material would have gone directly into the pirates' pockets.
“With DVDs, we're talking pure profit,” he said.
All of the alleged pirates arrested in January ran their businesses in Ontario. Tony Chan, whose name has been changed for this story, has helped his father run a counterfeit DVD store for four years.
“It's a lucrative business,” Chan said. “Very, very lucrative.”
His father's store can rake in $3,000 to $4,000 per weekend during the regular season. During the business season, such as Christmas, this number jumps to about $10,000.
Even though Chan says the shop has been raided six or seven times, they have never been fined, so there is no incentive to shut down the business.
Laporte says DVD pirates are typically pursued under the copyright act. Copyright infringement is punishable by fines up to $1 million and a prison sentence of up to five years.
The store is surrounded by dozens just like it. Many of the stores have entered pricing wars and offer DVDs for as little as $2 or $3, says Chan. His father, however, has maintained a price of $5 per DVD or five for $20.
Many of the sales are made to consumers who don't know how to download movies or convert them to a suitable format.
“Other customers,” Chan said, “are people who simply don't want to pay $50 or $60 for their family to go to the theatre.”
“The RCMP gives the highest priority to investigations involving counterfeit products with health and safety implications,” LaPorte said. “On average, the RCMP conducts more than 400 counterfeit-related investigations which results in 500-700 charges against people and/or companies each year.”
The RCMP announced on January 28 that four individuals allegedly involved in illegal distribution of counterfeit DVDs had been arrested. Two days later, they announced they seized over 12,000 pirated copies of new releases from two businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.
Piracy is the single largest threat to the motion picture industry in the United States, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
An industry report released in 2005 claimed piracy cost the major American motion picture studios $6.1 billion worldwide. Sixty-two per cent of the losses came from piracy of hard goods, such as DVDs. The other 38 per cent of losses come from Internet piracy.
Each pirated DVD the RCMP confiscated last month was allegedly being sold for between $4 and $7, making the total value of the bust somewhere between $48,000 and $84,000.
Marc LaPorte, RCMP media relations officer for Ontario, says the monetary value of seized material would have gone directly into the pirates' pockets.
“With DVDs, we're talking pure profit,” he said.
All of the alleged pirates arrested in January ran their businesses in Ontario. Tony Chan, whose name has been changed for this story, has helped his father run a counterfeit DVD store for four years.
“It's a lucrative business,” Chan said. “Very, very lucrative.”
His father's store can rake in $3,000 to $4,000 per weekend during the regular season. During the business season, such as Christmas, this number jumps to about $10,000.
Even though Chan says the shop has been raided six or seven times, they have never been fined, so there is no incentive to shut down the business.
Laporte says DVD pirates are typically pursued under the copyright act. Copyright infringement is punishable by fines up to $1 million and a prison sentence of up to five years.
The store is surrounded by dozens just like it. Many of the stores have entered pricing wars and offer DVDs for as little as $2 or $3, says Chan. His father, however, has maintained a price of $5 per DVD or five for $20.
Many of the sales are made to consumers who don't know how to download movies or convert them to a suitable format.
“Other customers,” Chan said, “are people who simply don't want to pay $50 or $60 for their family to go to the theatre.”
“The RCMP gives the highest priority to investigations involving counterfeit products with health and safety implications,” LaPorte said. “On average, the RCMP conducts more than 400 counterfeit-related investigations which results in 500-700 charges against people and/or companies each year.”
