PNP, industry leaders unite vs illegal movie camcording

MANILA, Philippines - Industry leaders have forged a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) with the Philippine National Police that seeks to curtail, if not eradicate the problem of unauthorized camcording in the country.

Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Versoza, Dominic Du of the Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council (MPAFPC), lawyer Rolando Dueñas of the National Cinema Association of the Philippines (NCAP) and Michael Robinson of the Motion Picture Association of America, lawyer Claro Arellano of the Justice Department, Wilson Tieng of the Movie Producers and Distributors Association of the Philippines and lawyer Magtanggol Gatdula, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director signed the MOA the other day at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong.

The MOA will ensure that provisions of the Anti-Camcording Act, which “prohibits and penalizes unauthorized use, possession and control, with the intent or attempt to use audiovisual devices to transmit or make a copy of any performance in an exhibition facility of cinematographic film or other audiovisual work,” is enforced.

Under the law, any person found guilty will pay a fine of P50,000 to P750,000 and will be imprisoned for a minimum of six months and one day to at most six years and one day. Foreign offenders will be immediately deported after paying the fine and serving his/her sentence, and cannot enter the Philippines anymore. Offenders who work for the government will be barred from public office and will forfeit his/her right to vote for five years.

Versoza has vowed to strictly enforce the law and asked government officials to revoke the permits of establishments that engage in illegal camcording activities. He vowed to conduct raids and other operations that will make sure the law is enforced.

Tieng said that this new development and a reduction in amusement tax will make him revive Solar Films, which stopped producing movies in 2000 due to rampant piracy.

“We want to see these camcording thieves arrested,” he says. “We lost P1-B last year due to piracy. Camcording theft leads to the uploading of films in the Internet. We don’t earn anymore cause these films from the Internet come for free.”

Regal Films’ Mother Lily Monteverde is just as upbeat about the Anti-Camcording Law.

“I am very positive it will encourage more producers. Film companies’ losses amounted to 50 percent this year. It was 30 percent five or six years ago.”

Robinson, Senior Vice President for Content Protection and Chief of Operations of the Motion Picture Association of America says that once the movie is camcorded in the Philippines, it is guaranteed to be released all over the world. He attributes this to the fact that the Philippine copy is in English.