AfterDawn: News

Fox points finger at Canada for piracy

20th Century Fox is threatening to delay its movie releases in Canada in attempt to stamp out rampant bootlegging. "Canada has become a hotbed for film piracy," Bruce Snyder, Fox president of U.S. distribution said. "It's a serious problem." Before delaying the releases, he said that the company will withhold movies from theaters that camcorder wielding movie fans are known to frequent.

If that fails, then the company will resort to delaying the releases. According to an article by the Hollywood Reporter, Canadian laws prevent arrest and prosecution for camcorder possession in cinemas. In the U.S., it is illegal to operate any recording equipment capable of making bootleg copies from a screen in theaters.



Douglas Frith, head of the Canadian Motion Picture Distribution Association (CMPDA), which represents major Hollywood studios in Canada, said the group is pushing the Canadian government to pass stronger copyright protection laws while also training cinema employees to spot individuals recording movies.

Source:
Canoe.com

Thanks to jack for the link.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 27 Jan 2007 18:16

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• 25 comments

• snake06

  NO, I hope the Canadian government does not change the copyright laws.
  
  Right now, I can download what I want, and can't be nailed for it.
  
  Most of the stuff I download isn't available on DVD.
  But it is still copyrighted.
  
  Damn 20 Century Fox, hold back you crappy movies. Like I even care.
  
  The last Fox movie I saw was Xmen 3 and it sucked so much ass.
  

  27.1.2007 19:10 #1

• aw2600

  If the studios decide to delay releases in Canada then I will just be forced to download even more movies.
  
  Not that I even go to the movie theatre that often. I'd rather watch movies on my big screen at home. The seats are more comfortable, the bathrooms are cleaner, the snacks are MUCH cheaper and I can pause the movie.
  

  27.1.2007 20:15 #2

• f2307

  What the mater with the corp.… Wright don’t they see the download is from Europe why just to pick on Canada we are like a needle on the eye

  27.1.2007 21:28 #3

• david100k

  biger reason to bootleg

  27.1.2007 22:13 #4

• tabletpc

  this is funny if they think this is going to help there wrong there is such a thing as bittorrent and frostwire and limewire
  
  duh
  
  and i hate to agree but 20 century fox hasn't had a good film for a good long time
  
  

  27.1.2007 23:01 #5

• jb2453

  dont live in canada, but my 2 cents on the issue:
  what a bad idea this is. this has bad idea written all over it. canada will only become more of a "hotbed for film piracy" if they delay releases. it will become even more a "serious problem". Also, i fail to recognize how these "camcorder wielding movie fans" are specific to Canada and why thats a problem when all it takes is one recorded copy to get out. Going by this logic, why dont they delay a movies release EVERYWHERE, including the US where theyre made?

  27.1.2007 23:57 #6

• fungyo

  They delay the movies which would probably result in lost sales, then they blame the lost sales on downloaders.

  28.1.2007 01:46 #7

• xhardc0re

  ahhh now you poor Canadians will have to wait a little longer to get your h0llywood craptascular movies. Urge your representatives to pass these new laws so you can get your *absolutely worthless* h0llywood movies the same time we get ours.

  28.1.2007 03:15 #8

• snake06

  xhardc0re,
  
  your right.
  
  We Canadians should urge our goverment to pass new laws, just so we can get the crappy movies that aren't even worth the price of admission at the same time as the US.
  
  Good thinking.
  

  28.1.2007 04:05 #9

• hughjars

  Fox movies threaten to delay its movie releases in Canada
  
  - If we all pirate them will they make that a promise? :D
  
  Who the feck do these cruds think they are?
  
  They don't f**king rule the world yet.
  
  They - with few and rare exception - shovel one long procession of mental health damaging, almost identical, invariably stupid and instantly forgettable infantile cr@p at us and expect us to get upset if they interrupt the supply?!
  
  Go Canada, we should all just call their bluff.
  
  We'll all benefit for it.
  
  They need us far more than a single one of us need them.
  
  Idiots.

  28.1.2007 04:06 #10

• drakshug

  And they think this will stop piracy? Doh!
  Even more Canadians will download from sites abroad where the fims have been released. Maybe they and time warner should be answering the question about how they encourage downloading. Both of them use fake torrents of the latest films in a vain attempt to piss off downloaders. Talk about a weird policy, eh?

  28.1.2007 05:24 #11

• domie

  28.1.2007 12:59 #12

• domie

  I think you are all missing the point here, the company is not as dumb as you think.
  
  The thinking behind this move is not to stop people downloading directly in Canada,they know they can't do that.
  
  It is to damage the legal dvd retail industry ( which presumably has money and political clout behind it )who in turn will pressurise the government to come up with stronger copyright laws and scare the average home user away from downloading.
  
  In the short term they will lose some money there but in the long run they will probably make more as people turn to retail stores to get their dvds instead of risking prosecution by internet downloads.
  
  Not everybody but enough, that is their business calculation.
  
  Of course I am guessing all this but it makes perfect business sense to me and probably them.

  28.1.2007 13:07 #13

• borhan9

  Canadain's have always been more smarter than their american counter parts no offence to americans here. I hope that Canda does not fold under the presure.

  28.1.2007 18:52 #14

• david100k

  quote
  Canadain's have always been more smarter than their american counter parts no offence to americans here. I hope that Canda does not fold under the presure.
  
  
  am canadian and your a dumm ass wtf "more smarter"
  
  how dare you insult a contry because of there copywright laws
  
  
  
  
  

  28.1.2007 19:10 #15

• chubbyInc

  Canada has signs posted and security checking to make sure no camcorders can get into the theaters. It is unfortunate that Fox has labeled Canada as a Pirate haven. No worse than anywhere else. I don't think there are any torrent sites located in Canada so we aren't the worst for pirating and its not like we have the Mafia selling millions of pirated movies/cds every year.
  
  
  "Canadian laws prevent arrest and prosecution for camcorder possession in cinemas."
  
  Just as illegal here in Canada as it is in the US!
  
  
  

  28.1.2007 20:25 #16

• silkman

  "how dare you insult a contry because of there copywright laws "
  
  THAT'S THEIR DUMBASS!! LOL
  

  28.1.2007 23:27 #17

• minidiez

  As a proud pirater and canadian, I am happy to say that it is legal to download movies. Still, this can't be good. Besides, the last time I entered the movie theatre was at Christmas. The prices just keep getting hire and hire.
  
  Fox has no right to influence our judicial process. That's 100% wrong. No business should influence the Democratice process. Otherwise, we are just being controlled by corporations.

  29.1.2007 06:50 #18

• lannigan

  MUWAHAHAHAHA! Aha, aha, aha, MUWAHAHAHAHA, I think I am going to pee myself, MUWAHAHAHAA.
  
  20th Century Fox, Thank-you, so very much, for all your crappy movies. We canadians are very please with our current copyright laws. Sorry, but canadians don't let our judicial and governement processes be influenced by the like of you, sorry-ass, money grubbing movie studios. Kiss my canadian ass!
  
  MUWAHAHAHAHA!
  
  Man,
  
  O CANADA,
  I LOVE IT!

  29.1.2007 12:25 #19

• skeil909

  Quote:Fox has no right to influence our judicial process. That's 100% wrong. No business should influence the Democratice process. Otherwise, we are just being controlled by corporations.The United States has been being crontrolled by Corporations for sometime now and I fear the worse is yet to come.

  29.1.2007 12:27 #20

• dude845

  This would force more people into downloading, smart!

  29.1.2007 16:59 #21

• ZippyDSM

  I saw Xmen 3 it was so so not bad for what it was a a hollywoodized comic movie.
  I think the jugernought was done worse than toad....
  
  Anyway back to topic this makes sense theres only 1 reason to take a cam into a movie,however the right of archiving and backing up the stuff you buy is always something we all will always need.

  30.1.2007 06:51 #22

• xhardc0re

  stupidest idea that the M.A.F.I.A.A. might have seriously considered: "if we heavily fine all the P2P users, they might be scared & never share their files with anyone again! Genius!!"
  Truth: if you put your customers in the poor house, they will turn vindictive, spiteful, & might lease a T1 line just so they can share your best selling movies for free. Just to pay you back 10x for that probation by the court + legal costs.
  Most likely truth: Put the hardcore criminals in jail. Leave the P2P users to their downloads. Are you jackarses PAYING for the bandwith? k-thanks-bai

  1.2.2007 01:49 #23

• XENON

  It's easy Fux is blaming us because they have failed to make ANY good movies in the past few years and nobody wants to watch their steaming piles for risk of losing their hard earned money and brain cells.
  
  So instead of blaming themselvess for their CRAP. they blame everyone else.
  
  Oh and because Canada is known as a 'nice, conservative non violent" country.
  
  Let them delay the release of new films! that gives us more time to preview and determine whether it's worth it to download it or view it in theaters.

  4.2.2007 11:23 #24

• canuckerz

  Originally posted by silkman:"how dare you insult a contry because of there copywright laws "
  
  THAT'S THEIR DUMBASS!! LOLRoflcopters
  Originally posted by Xenon:It's easy Fux is blaming us because they have failed to make ANY good movies in the past few years and nobody wants to watch their steaming piles for risk of losing their hard earned money and brain cells.
  
  So instead of blaming themselvess for their CRAP. they blame everyone else.
  
  Oh and because Canada is known as a 'nice, conservative non violent" country.
  
  Let them delay the release of new films! that gives us more time to preview and determine whether it's worth it to download it or view it in theaters.I completely agree with that, yet another example of companys picking on the little guys for no reason. Also come to think of it i havent downloaded any 20th century fox movies becasue they all are steaming mounds of crap. So they can stop flattering themselves, like their movies are actually worth waiting an hour to download.

  20.2.2007 18:30 #25