Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Asia West??

In Bid to Stem Piracy, Warner Bros. Halts Promo Screenings in Canada

Burbank, Calif. - In a move aimed at combating piracy, Warner Bros. Pictures announced on Wednesday that it has cancelled all promotional and word-of-mouth screenings in Canada for all of its forthcoming releases.

The studio said it is responding to Canada's lack of legislation banning the videotaping of films in movie theaters, adding that over the last 18 months, some 70% of its films have been camcorded in Canada.

The practice is illegal in the U.S. under various federal, state and local laws.

"Canada is the number one priority in terms of anti-camcording legislation," said Darcy Antonellis, Warner's senior vice president of worldwide anti-piracy operations.

"Within the first week of a film's release, you can almost be certain that somewhere out there a Canadian copy will show up."

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