Calgary Man Pays $1,500 & Gets One-Year Probation for Movie Piracy

A man in Calgary has become the first person to be convicted under Canada's new, much tighter, piracy laws. Richard Criag Lissaman was caught filming the movie Sweeney Todd in a Calgary theatre. Even though there's no proof that he was planning to reproduce and sell his recording, Lissaman was fined almost $1,500 and given one-year probation, during which time he is not permitted to purchase, own, or possess any type of video recording equipment outside his home. And yes, that even includes a cell phone with video recording capability!

In June 2007, the Canadian Criminal Code was amended to crack down on movie piracy. The new offenses included the unauthorized recording of a movie in a theatre without the consent of the theatre manager, both with and without knowledge of the intent of selling, renting, or otherwise commercially-distributing a copy of said recording. The court is also permitted to confiscate any recording equipment used in the crime.

In this such case, I guess it is safe to assume that the man was going to distribute his recording in some unauthorized manner. He obviously wasn't recording it for himself, since he was there! And if his friends wanted to see the flick, well, they would have been there with him. Still, does this give the country free reign to fine a person $1,500 and put them on probation without actually proving anything other than the fact that he recorded the movie?

I know it might not seem like a fair comparison, but plenty of people attend concerts with their cell phones and digital cameras high in the air recording video footage of the artist singing, performing, and chatting up the crowd. While many will upload this footage to their own blogs, a site like YouTube, or a social networking Website to share with friends for free, how do we know they don't plan to sell it to a tabloid site for profit? And can we fine them simply because their actions imply that they might want to, or have the opportunity to, sell the footage? It reminds me of a joke that has been circulating the 'net for years whereby a coast guard threatens to fine a woman for illegal fishing, even though she's actually just reading a book in the boat. "Yes, but you have the equipment to begin fishing," he says, pointing at the fishing rod that's in the boat. At this point, she responds that she'll charge him for sexual assault. When he looks at her with a puzzled face, she declares, "yes, but you have the equipment to commit that crime".

What's more, I know it's a far stretch, but could this first iconic sentencing eventually spiral into more and more laws that crack down on innocent people? Those who copy DVDs onto their home PCs as a back-up, or create mix CDs for their friends, or that record TV content to an external hard drive for later viewing.

I know I'm playing devil's advocate here, but the legal system is sadly built around so many technicalities and loopholes that sometimes you wonder if we're paying more attention to convicting the guilty or protecting the innocent.

Is it Illegal Downloading, or a Lack of Creativity?

I have been, for years, reading about the music, movie, and entertainment industry crying the blues about illegal downloading, and how it's killing the business, leading to retail shop shut downs, lay-offs, and lost profits. There's no doubt that illegal downloading, pirated movies and such is a contributing factor to the decline. But in observing the direction of music, movies, and TV as of late, I'm wondering if it's simply a lack of creativity and not Internet geeks that's the underlying problem.

Let's start with music. I already discussed this year's Grammy Awards in a previous post, where one big winner was able to accept her award while on hiatus from rehab. Nuff said. But also, remember the previous Grammys when troubled starlet Britney Spears was given the stage to lip-sync and prance around with absolutely no co-ordination, nor entertainment value, and an obvious lack of rehearsing. Is this the sort of content for which consumers are supposed to be willing to pay $17/CD? Of course we have tons of great artists on the scene, like John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Jack Johnson, and Josh Groban (judging from the comments on the aforementioned Grammys post, he has a diverse group of fans!) But when it really comes down to it, who gets the spotlight? The ones gallivanting on Hollywood Blvd., and/or with drinking and/or drug problems, and/or with great or odd fashion sense. There's no focus on the music anymore! In my opinion, absolutely NO artist should be permitted to lip-sync during a live performance. If you can't sing live, find another career.

Now let's move on to the movies. I can't help but notice that many of the biggest box-office sellers over the years have been based on popular novels of the same name. The Da Vinci Code, Memoirs of a Geisha, Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, and even this year's big Oscar winner, No Country for old Men. I'm pretty sure that if you dig deep enough into the credits of most big movies, you'll find that they are in some way, shape or form, based on a book. I do understand that a lot of work is involved in order to turn a novel into a screenplay. But I've seen many movies after having read the book, and the dialogue in some cases is virtually identical. Where's the originality? Are novelists the only people left with talent? Or is there a shortage of original screenplay writers?

Finally, there's TV, which has suffered an unfortunate blow because of the recent Hollywood Writer's Strike (perhaps these guys should have become novelists!) But even before the Strike was a glimmer in anyone's eye, reality TV begun to take over. In a typical prime-time TV line-up, there's probably 10 reality TV shows for every one scripted drama (this is just my guestimate, so don't hold me to this!) Everything from singing to talent competitions a la American Idol, to sticking people in a house or on an island and watching the drama ensue. If anyone believes that half of these shows are actually fully unscripted, they'll be sadly disappointed. But again, where's the originality? The creative juices that are working to entertain, not just provide shock value?

Sure, the Internet is making it much easier for consumers to get pretty much anything when they want it. But perhaps there's a reason beyond this changing face of technology that leads consumers to want to gather as much content as they can as quickly as they can. Do they feel they're not getting the quality they deserve? All I'm saying is that entertainment companies should take a long, hard look at issues like those mentioned above before forcing all the blame onto illegal downloading.

Canadians Are Pirates

Today, the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (wait, we have one of those?) presented a study to the governmental powers-that-be that outlines a proposed plan to combat piracy in Canada. Will it work?

For anyone who thinks piracy here is small in comparison to other countries, think again. We're actually behind many developing countries (yes, you read that right) in instituting proper measures that would prevent the prevalence of everything from fake copies of the latest film release, to bogus, "cracked" software applications.

In fact, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) says that Canada is the leading manufacturer and exporter of bootlegged movies and illegal devices that facilitate pirated activity, like “modification chips” used to allow counterfeit games to be played on videogame consoles. Apparently we're also the place to go for content if you want to make pirated reproductions of movies (via concealed camcorders in movie theatres, for example). The IIPA sourced back 20-25 per cent of pirated DVDs to Canada! Who ever said Canada wasn't tops in anything?

All joking aside, piracy is a serious issue. For every person that buys a pirated DVD or piece of software, that's one less legitimate copy that gets sold. This means profits are down for everyone involved and, in some cases, can result in the loss of jobs. Many sources, including the RCMP, estimate economy losses related to piracy to be in the billions of dollars.

Yet despite this knowledge, people continue to grab DVDs from some hole-in-the-wall store. Why? Because they're 5 for $20, that's why. Who cares if the cover of the DVD is a photocopy of the actual DVD jacket? Or if Russian subtitles run across the bottom of the screen? Or I have to watch some guy’s silhouette in the theatre as he gets up for a bathroom break during the flick? There are many who wouldn’t even think of watching such horrible-quality recordings, but judging from the number of pirated movies circulating in the country, it's safe to assume there are just as many who would.

So how do we stop these "thieves" from perpetrating again? Should manufacturers spend less on the quality of their products and more on bringing the costs at retail down? Probably not. Whether the problem is high prices, accessibility, or simply “stickin’ it to the man”, people will continue to buy pirated products as long as they are available. All we can do is take measures to eliminate the people who sell them.

Does this mean hiring more cops, or taking some off the streets (how about those pesky parking cops?) and putting them on a special piracy task force? Do we start fining huge amounts of money for possessing, or selling pirated DVDs? Do we raid shops and throw the culprits in jail for the night to “teach them a lesson?” Call me crazy, but I can't see how shoving over the murderers and drug dealers to make room for the dude selling copies of Spiderman 3 from the back of his truck is the solution.

The CACN proposes, among other things, tougher punishments, more resources dedicated to the issue (including police officers and educational programs), and stricter enforcements at the border. And the CACN cites a survey that says almost half of Canadians would call me crazy, and throw guilty parties in the slammer.

Whatever the solution, piracy is a problem that has only been getting worse in Canada. I don't know anyone who hasn't owned, or at least seen, a pirated copy of something or other: a DVD release of a movie that just came out in theatres; a pirated version of the latest PC software; or an MP3 track downloaded from an illegal, P2P Website. The suggestions CACN proposes are a step in the right direction, but we’re still far off from ridding the country of pirated product.

As a sidenote for those interested: the most “guilty” regions for piracy in Canada include Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia; Calgary, Alberta; Toronto and Markham, Ontario; and Montreal, Quebec.