VSDA Estimates Retailer Losses From Piracy At $1B Annually; Video Trade Association Calls For Multi-Prong Attack On Video Piracy

23-Jul-04

The Board of Directors of the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) has unanimously approved a resolution that affirms the commitment of the home video industry's trade association to fighting video piracy through consumer education, litigation, legislation, technology, and lawful alternatives. The resolution was approved at the Board's meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. The resolution declares that video piracy is the ""greatest threat currently facing the home video industry"" and estimates U.S. retailer losses to packaged goods (illegal DVDs and videocassettes) and online piracy to be approximately $1 billion annually.The resolution states that the Board of Directors of VSDA:1. ""Is committed to taking a proactive leadership role in fighting piracy, both on its own and in conjunction with others;2. ""Supports the public education campaign of the Motion Picture Association of America to explain why movie piracy is illegal, how it impacts jobs and the economy, and the consequences of engaging in piracy;3. ""Encourages motion picture studios to extend anti-piracy public education by supporting the placement of anti-piracy education signage in retail outlets and including anti-piracy messages on DVDs;4. ""Supports the motion picture industry's legal efforts to shut down Grokster, Morpheus, and similar file-swapping services;5. ""Endorses appropriately targeted lawsuits against individuals engaged in file-swapping of movies;6. ""Supports the enactment of laws in the U.S. and across the globe to ensure adequate deterrence against copyright infringement, as well as efficient and swift justice, while protecting lawful uses, and in particular supports enactment of laws to hold peer-to-peer file-swapping networks responsible for the copyright infringement they facilitate, make the camcording of motion pictures in theaters a crime, and enhance the penalties for those who make copies of movies available on the Internet before their release on home video;7. ""Urges the development of multiple lawful alternatives to file-swapping, based on diverse and competitive business models that empower consumers to choose legal services rather than movie theft, to serve as effective antidotes to piracy; 8. ""Supports the deployment of digital rights management technologies for the purposes of deterring piracy while emphasizing that new technologies for video, including digital distribution, must respect the rights of retailers and consumers under the First Sale provision of U.S. copyright law."" Established in 1981, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) is the not-for-profit international trade association for the $22 billion home entertainment industry. VSDA represents more than 1,200 companies throughout the United States, Canada, and a dozen other countries. Its members operate more than 12,500 retail outlets in the U.S. that sell and/or rent DVDs, VHS cassettes, and console video games. Membership comprises the full spectrum of video retailers (from single-store operators to large chains), video distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent motion picture studios, and other related businesses that constitute and support the home video entertainment industry. For more information, please visit www.vsda.org.

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