The federal government has introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on movie piracy, so those taping films in theatres could face up to five years in prison.
"It's the integrity of the entire movie industry that is our responsibility to protect, and this is one step to do it," said Heritage Minister Bev Oda on Friday.
The bill was introduced two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has asked for more action on the issue.
"It has been very disturbing to those who make great movies get ripped off," said Schwarzenegger.
Presently in Canada, it's only illegal to record a movie in a theatre for commercial use. But the new legislation would make the act of recording itself illegal, with a penalty of up to two years in pail.
For those convicted of pirating films for sale or rental, they could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
The United States passed similar legislation in 2005. But critics say it has failed to curb piracy.
"The best example that we have is to look south of the border to the U.S., which has anti-camcording legislation at both the federal and the state level," said Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa. "And yet, according to the motion picture industry, it is by far the largest source of camcorder piracy in the world."
In Canada, analysts say the two major hotpots for movie piracy are Calgary and Montreal.
Douglas Frith, of the Canadian Motion Pictures Distributors Association, said the current law makes it difficult for theatres to stop piracy.
"They know they law, they laugh at you," he said. "All you can do is ask them to leave the theatre, and they're bold enough to ask for their money back."
Kevin Tierney, producer of the hit Canadian movie "Bon Cop, Bad Cop," told The Canadian Press pirated copies of his film have appeared as far away as Baghdad and Beijing.
He added that 2,500 unauthorized DVD copies were found just before "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" was officially released on video.
"I once joked it was every Canadian producer's fantasy to see their movie pirated," he told a press conference. "I take that back."
With a report by CTV's Rosemary Thompson and files from The Canadian Press
