Sniffing out copyright thieves

Some argue that online copyright stifles creative freedom. Others believe that copyright is an impossible concept in an online world. And then there are those that claim they are losing millions, if not billions, of dollars annually to internet pirates.

Speaking at Netsafe's first international cybersafety conference in Queenstown last week, the regional vice-president and legal counsel for the Asia-Pacific Motion Picture Association, Frank Rittman, said the motion picture industry alone lost $18.2 billion in revenue to movie pirates in 2005.

Rittman, who represents industry heavyweights such as Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox, said about a third of that cost fell on motion picture makers.

The remainder was lost revenue to associated businesses, movie theatres, and governments.

Huge industries have built up around copyright infringements, such as DVD piracy in Asia.

With profit margins of around 1000 per cent and punishments that amounted to a slap on the wrist, the industry continues to thrive, he said.

But it was new technologies and the internet that were presenting the greatest challenges.

Rittman used last year's release of The Simpsons Movie to illustrate the point.

Due for release on July 27 in the United States, the movie was first shown on July 26 in Australia where one punter recorded it in its entirety on his hand phone.

Four hours later it was on the internet and although it was taken down after two hours it had already attracted 3000 hits.

Within another four hours it was on YouTube.

By the time it was removed four hours later it had already been viewed more than 70,000 times.

Rittman says the law is catching up with the "bad guys" and case law now recognises and confirms the principles of copyright infringement on the internet allowing organisations such as his to seek legal redress.

Now the focus is on keeping the average internet user honest especially children.

"We've probably got a whole generation of kids who never bought a DVD and don't know where the content comes from it just exists," he says.

Auckland-based information, communication and technology lawyer Rick Shera says older generations are a "lost cause" when it comes to respecting copyright.

"But there's an urgent need to make sure the younger generations people under about 10 learn to respect copyright.

"The question is, how do you do that?" He rejects arguments that the concept of copyright is anathema when used in the context of the internet.

"Without it you will not have an internet that's sustainable. Everything on the internet is copyright. If you don't know you have permission to take it, then you are potentially infringing copyright."

While digital rights management (DRM) technology is successfully used on hundreds of film, music and ebook websites, education is generally considered the key to reaching younger generations.

Rittman is a founding director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Content Protection, an organisation focused on educating populations about copyright.

Their methods include advertising in traditional media and on the internet, outreach and co-operation with governments, film workshops and festivals and identifying champions to the cause Temuera Morrison in New Zealand and Jackie Chan in Australia.

They also run advertisements at cinemas. One that will be familiar to New Zealand movie-goers compares copyright infringements with the theft of a car.

In Malaysia, the organisation introduced the world's first DVD sniffer dogs, which have lifted the profile of the cause and, it is claimed, successfully tracked down pirated DVDs worth millions.

But with new technology constantly challenging our understanding of copyright and ability to control it, there is only one certainty: their fight will be ongoing.

- © Fairfax NZ News