Law Times

Law Times • December 8, 2008 BRIEF: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PAGE 13 edly comes to mind is one of Captain Jack Sparrow, the swash- buckling Johnny Depp character of the box-office smash Pirates of the Caribbean hits. But, a real life movie pirate walked the plank recently after he was caught filming another Depp character, Sweeney Todd. Richard Craig Lissaman, 21, Movie pirate walks plank in first conviction W BY KELLY HARRIS Law Times hen people think of movie pirates, the image that undoubt- of Calgary pleaded guilty in an unauthorized recording case in November and was sentenced to $1,495 in fines and a one- year probation. Lissaman had illegally taped the theatrical production of the demon bar- ber of Fleet Street in December 2007. It was the first conviction under new federal anti-piracy laws passed unanimously in June of that year. A full 90 per cent of all pirat- ed films come from camcorders. While the statistics show that anywhere from 20 to 50 per cent of those come from Canada, one thing that is for sure it's a signifi- cant amount. One title pirated in Canada was traced to 11 dif- ferent Internet pirate groups and sold in 25 different countries, says Wendy Noss, executive di- rector and former general coun- sel for the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association. The CMPDA represents the six largest distributors in Canada: Sony, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, and Disney. Until the new law was enact- ed the legislation preventing pi- racy was found under copyright laws. Those laws were federal and had to be enforced by the RCMP. For cities with their own police forces it was rare to see lit- tle more than banning someone from a theatre when they were caught taping a movie. The very fact that every single member of Parliament voted to adopt the new law, especially in a minority Parliament, is an example of its relevance, says Noss. "That speaks volumes in terms of the necessity for this legislation and really the relevance of it," she says. "It was broadly, broadly supported by Canadian produc- ers, directors, actors, tech work- ers on films, the motion picture theatre owners, the chamber of commerce, it had broad support from the Canadian business and production industry." A large part of that support no doubt stemmed from the fact that, at the time the law was passed, 20 to 25 per cent of all pirated movies from the com- panies the CMPDA represent came from Canada. The eco- nomic impact of movie pirating could represent millions or even billions of dollars in losses. "[It impacts] theatre owners, and in the theatrical window, you then have loss to the DVD market because after they are re- leased in the theatres they come out on DVDs, you then have loss in the television and video on demand market," Noss says. Along with the new legisla- tion all movies shown in theatres in Canada have watermarks. This means that when a movie is illegal- ly filmed, no matter where it is sold in the world, authorities can trace it back to the theatre it was filmed in. As Noss says, this isn't a couple of teenagers swapping movies in the schoolyard. For a movie taped in Calgary to end up halfway across the world, there has to be a signifi- cant organization behind it. "A movie camcorded on a Fri- day night in Calgary shows up in Russia, the [United Kingdom], Canada, New York the next day as a pirated DVD," says Noss. The illegal camcording and distribution of movies from Calgary has fallen off dramati- cally since the arrest of Lissaman. While Noss couldn't comment on whether that means the police got the right guy, she does hope that the new law that he was arrested under will act as a deterrent. "This law was enacted June 2007, this individual was arrested December 2007, there have been no camcords traced from Calgary theatres from the date of his arrest to the present," Noss says. "The best-case scenario is that there are no camcords in Canada." According to a report on Global News in January 2007, a full 50 per cent of all pirat- ed movies came from Canada, many of which from Quebec because the films were bilin- gual. In the report some pro- duction companies threatened to withhold or delay new releas- es to Canada to avoid opening night piracy. At the time, those quoted in the report cited a lack of political will to deal with the problem. The unanimous ac- ceptance of the anti-pirating laws and recent throne speech commitments shows that the will now seems to exist. The November throne speech, supported by both the governing Conservative party and opposi- tion Liberals, included intellec- tual property-related issues. The Canadian Intellectual Property Council, a group that was cre- ated earlier this year to promote intellectual property rights, sup- ported the commitments. In a release in support of the Untitled-2 1 throne speech, the council wrote that, "Canada is taking a much- needed step towards reforming its current outdated legislation. In order to be more in line with international norms, the adop- tion of new copyright legislation must be the first step in the ref- ormation process. The Canadian Intellectual Property Council applauds this move forward by the new government." The council also wrote in the news release that it would like to see "the recognition of trade- mark counterfeiting as a crimi- nal offence under the Trade- marks Act, the criminalization of counterfeit and pirated goods for retail sale, further empower- ment of our custom agents in or- der to seize and detain suspected of stronger penalties counterfeiting and piracy." EMPLOYMENT WANTED SERVICES - Available law clerk. Proficient in estates, real estate, litigation, ADR, corporate/commercial and labour and employ- ment. Part/full time. Messages (416) 621-2485. To advertise call 905-841-6481 counterfeit goods and the adop- tion for LT Marketplace Most of our successes come in court… …but getting them on the world stage is nice too. Dimock Stratton llp is proud to be named Canadian Patent Contentious Firm of the Year 2008 by Managing Intellectual Property. Dimock Stratton llp experience. results. 20 Queen W. 32nd fl, Toronto | 416.971.7202 | dimock.com 12/2/08 2:41:44 PM intellectual property CONFIDENCE & CARE Discover why many of the world's most original thinkers rely on Bereskin & Parr for IP guidance. One of Canada's leading intellectual property law firms, we combine depth of expertise with a dedication to tailored service that builds lasting trust. www.bereskinparr.com TORONTO MISSISS A UG A WA TERLOO MONTRÉA L Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 7/8/08 3:32:29 PM

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