Two powerful U.S. Senators have added their voices to a lobbying campaign to get Canada to crack down on film piracy.
Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and Cornyn Call, R.-Tex., have sent Prime Minister Stephen Harper a letter calling on the Conservative government to criminalize the practice.
"Films illegally recorded in Canada have been found in no fewer than 45 countries. Twentieth Century Fox has reported that, at one point during 2006, Canadian theaters were the source for nearly 50 percent of illegal camcorded recordings across the globe," the senators wrote in their letter dated March 1.
"However, it is still not a criminal offense in Canada to make an unauthorized recording of a film in a movie theater. That means there is no law against what is essentially the theft of property."
The senators claim that since making an individual copy for personal use isn't against the law in Canada and that criminal prosecution requires proof of copying to illegally redistribute, all a theatre can do is expel the person caught doing the recording.
The senators noted that the U.S. has cracked down, making it a federal crime to tape a film in a movie theatre or to release a copy of a film on the Internet before it has debuted in theatres.
"Unfortunately, since the United States has enacted tougher laws and penalties against piracy, including camcording piracy, it seems that much of this illicit business has simply moved north.
"According to a report issued by the U.S. Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, piracy in Canada has grown since the U.S. enacted its law in 2005. In fact, Canadian-sourced camcordings rose by 24 percent in 2006 from 2005."
This costs Hollywood US$6 billion annually, they said, adding that industry studies claim that the Canadian film industry loses $225 million - and the federal treasury about $34 million.
David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, told Â鶹´«Ã½: "Stronger enforcement those people who go into movie theatres, record films and then distribute them. That goes on in Canada right now and it needs to be stopped."
The U.S. is threatening to group Canada with noted piracy nations like China and Russia.
However, experts like law professor Michael Geist say Hollywood and the U.S. are exaggerating the threat posed by Canada.
"Canada's likely responsible for no more than two to three per cent of all Hollywood releases that might be cam-corded," he said.
Ken Hansen of the RCMP's federal enforcement branch said film piracy isn't at the top of their priority list.
"Our number-one priorities would be things like pharmaceuticals, electrical products -- anything that could affect the health and safety of Canadians," he said.
The federal government wouldn't make a cabinet minister available to comment on the issue (the senators sent copies of the letter to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Heritage Minister Bev Oda).
CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife said that federal officials say privately that there could be repercussions if Canada doesn't act on new copyright legislation.
With a report from CTV's Robert Fife
