An anti-piracy task-force is being setup by the UK Film Council and government. With the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) estimating the cost of counterfeiting to the UK’s domestic film industry at around £400m, the task-force will focus on getting accurate figures for the size of the problem and suggestions of how it can be tackled.
The new task-force, which will be chaired by UK Film Council board member Nigel Green, includes representatives of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK film producers, distributors, exhibitors, visual effects companies and major US studios, film sales agents, as well as actors’ union Equity.
Copy VHS tapes are still the major problem, with around one in three videos purchased in the UK believed to be an unauthorised copies. FACT say the numbers of pirate DVDs are also expanding rapidly citing a number of 100,000 DVD raids having been carried out already this year. The majority of the DVD originate in the Far East.
Links – UK Film Council, FACT