GrayZone Digest
July/August 1997
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GrayZone Digest July/August 1997 |
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| Artists Corner |
Musicians Fight Back
London Lawyers for artists George Michael, Paul Weller, Crowded House and a new British act, Ocean Colour Scene, are behind four High Court writs issued against a compact disc factory alleged to have pirated nearly £6 million worth of their albums. The artists' legal advisors indicated that Mayron Multimedia has "ripped off" their clients "in one of the most outrageous ways possible." Sources claim that 480,000 copies of the pirated materials have been seized and can be traced back to the north London-based Mayron. The street value of the contraband is estimated at £5.76 million. (Financial Mail, June 1, 1997 - Scott Wilkinson)
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Bulgaria | China | Italy | Russia | Scotland | United States |
| Bulgaria |
Two Raids Produce Two Results
Raid Number One: Sofia A Bulgarian court acquitted a defendant in the country's first case involving alleged piracy of compact discs, in which Bulgaria ranks second only to China. State radio said a regional court in the town of Veliko Tarnovo had rejected the case against Marko Mihailov, 37, manager of a local firm called SMC. The prosecutor's office, which had accused him of organizing production of the CDs in 1995-96 in breach of Bulgarian copyright law, has two weeks to lodge an appeal.
Despite the outcome, this first case in Bulgaria against pirate CD production is a
positive signal, according to sources close to the case. Last year, Bulgarian
police investigated more than 200 audio and video producers and distributors,
and 83 cases were referred to the prosecutor's office, but no one has yet been
convicted. IFPI has estimated illegal CD production in Bulgaria at 15 million
discs per year, costing the European recording industry approximately $100
million.
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| China |
Pirates Hijack Movie Epic of the Opium War
Hong Kong Pirates hijacked China's costly movie epic of the Opium War, a centerpiece of its propaganda leading up to the Hong Kong handover. "The Opium War," which cost HK $116.07 million (US $15 million) to make, was on sale for HK $30 (US $3.8) on an unlicensed compact disc just three days after the handover, a newspaper said. Beijing took Hong Kong back from Britain recently, ending 156 years of colonial rule that began with China's humiliating defeat in the Opium War. Said the South China Morning Post, "If you knew who owned the factory which makes these discs, you'd know there is no problem." A youth selling the pirated film concurred with the newspaper. He alluded to the involvement of a "higher authority" when asked if he feared any penalty for depriving mainland Chinese film makers of royalties. (Reuters/Variety, July 2, 1997)
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| Italy |
Black Market Designer Rip-Offs Thrive in Italy
Rome According to an in-depth article on piracy throughout the world that appeared in The New York Times, the black market for designer rip-offs thrives in Italy. Earlier this year, Italian police raided leather workshops in Milan, Florence and parts of Tuscany, seizing thousands of bags with brand names like Chanel, Prada and Dior, which were slated for export to Spain, Switzerland and countries as far away as Japan. Alarmingly, the difference with these products is that they weren't the usual shoddy rip-offs. Instead, they were barely distinguishable from the genuine articles. The Times concluded that the same craftsmen who design the originals are also knocking them off. (The New York Times, July 3, 1997 - John Tagliabue)
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| Russia |
Russians Form Association to Fight Video Piracy
Moscow A group of Russian film distributors and television companies have formed an association to fight video piracy, according to officials. "In Russia, the video piracy situation is very bad, which means it's a great place to be a video pirate," according to Grigory Simanovich, a spokesman for Russian Public Television ORT. "Russia has taken virtually no steps against video piracy, and, as a result, the government loses $250 million a year in tax revenues," he added. The new Russian Anti-Pirate Organization includes ORT, Mosfilm, the country's leading studio, official video distributors, the U.S. Motion Picture Association and others in the fight against the sale of unauthorized videos. Russian police make raids against vendors of illegal videos and CDs occasionally, but make very few arrests. (Reuters/Variety, July 7, 1997)
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| United States |
U.S. Anti-Piracy Busts
New York New York Times writer Linda Lee describes New York City as the epicenter of video piracy. In this in-depth piece, she also interviews top executives in the movie industry, as well as experts in anti-piracy operations, who describe new aggressive measures that have been implemented to thwart the mega-movie bootleggers. (The New York Times, July 7, 1997 - Linda Lee)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Dayton, Ohio
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Washington, D.C. The RIAA filed civil lawsuits in New York, Texas and California against three Internet music archive sites committing online piracy by reproducing and distributing their members' recordings without authorization. These sites were allowing users to download and, in some cases, upload full-length songs until temporary restraining orders were granted. The lawsuits set an important legal precedent. RIAA President Hilary Rosen told Variety, an entertainment industry publication: "As we embrace today's newest technology--the Internet--it's important to remember our values count, even in cyberspace."
What has brought the music issue to the forefront now is the availability of a new
data-compression technology unofficially termed MPEG-3, or MP3. This allows the digital
data in recorded music and other content to be compressed so that it can be downloaded
quickly into computers and reproduced with high quality. Those who tested the three
music sites being sued said that a full track could be downloaded in five
minutes. The recordings are then stored on computer hard drives and can be
played on the computer with user-friendly "player software," much of which is
available at no charge on the Internet.
Lisbon, Portugal
The treaties, signed at a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) conference in
Geneva last December, provide the legal framework for the music industry to invest and trade in the
market for online delivery of recordings. IFPI Director Frances Moore said,
"Our message in Lisbon is that the recording industry urgently needs
investment security, and that governments should make ratification of the WIPO
treaties a priority."
Los Angeles
New York
Internet Education Corner To promote copyright education on the Internet, the RIAA contacted 12 U.S. universities with student-created websites. The universities were chosen after officials identified infringing sites that currently or previously resided on the university servers. Carnegie-Mellon and the University of Texas at Austin were among the first to respond and are interested in participating with the RIAA in an education program for their students.(RIAA Fast Tracks, June 10, 1997)
Through the RIAA's CD Plant Education Program, over 5,000 pirated Notorious
B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur compilation CDs were prevented from reaching the
market earlier this year.
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