Canada Tightens Leash On Piracy

If you’re in Canada and you have a habit of making bootleg copies of movies, you may want to think twice about bringing your camcorder to the cinema next time. The Canadian government is bringing the law down on movie piracy.

Canada introduced legislation on Friday that will make camcording of films in theaters a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Similar to measures enacted or introduced in the United States, Japan and Mexico, it is meant to clamp down on piracy estimated to cost the movie industry $6 billion worldwide and to cost $225 million in lost consumer spending in Canada.

Under the Copyright Law, it is illegal in Canada to bootleg films for commercial use. The problem is that it had been difficult to prove that the recorded materials were intended for that purpose. The new legislation makes the act of recording punishable: two years in prison. As for commercial distribution, violators will face a term of five years behind bars.

Source: Reuters

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