Hollywood hopes law will better curb piracy

WORANUJ MANEERUNGSEE

Hollywood producers hope amendments to the 1994 copyright law will reduce counterfeiting in Thailand, which they say has one of the poorest records for intellectual property protection in Asia Pacific. Thailand had the third-worst record in the region in 2005, with piracy costing the US movie industry potential revenue of US$148 million, according to an independent survey commissioned by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the powerful Hollywood lobby group.

The worst offender was China, where piracy cost movie makers $244 million. Japan, while a developed country, was the second-worst because of its huge market value as opposed to being a production base for pirated films as Thailand and China are.

The survey said Thailand's total film industry in 2005 lost 17.44 billion baht to counterfeits. Home-entertainment products such as DVDs and VCDs suffered the most with losses of 12.94 billion baht, cinema 2.66 billion baht and home entertainment rentals 1.84 billion baht.

The Intellectual Property Department and the Commerce Ministry are amending Section 66 of the Copyright Law, which will not allow violators, including manufacturers and distributors, to make out-of-court settlements. On the other hand, violations would face criminal charges and jail terms.

Michael Ellis, the MPA's senior vice-president and regional director, said the association would rather see the draft of Section 66 cover all violators, including small retailers and street vendors.

The department has already submitted the draft to the Council of State for consideration.

Mr Ellis anticipated that once the draft was approved, the Thai government would be able to use other laws as the anti-money laundering law to increase efficiency of law enforcement. The MPA believes organised crime groups are behind rampant pirated goods worldwide.

The profit margin on heroin trafficking is 350%, while the margin on pirated DVDs is up to 1,150% with no risk, said Mr Ellis.

He said counterfeited optical discs dominated 90% of total sales of optical discs supplied by MPAs members.

Piracy from the Internet was relatively low in Thailand, but it would get worse when more Internet users were able to use high-speed connections.

The MPA's members comprise the major studios including Buena Vista, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers.

General News
Bangkok Post
Thursday January 25, 2007