NY AG Cracks Down On IP Theft (With Tina Fey)
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced an aggressive new approach to fighting piracy in the Empire State on Monday. Cuomo, who was joined at a press briefing by Motion Picture Association of America chief Dan Glickman and NBC President Jeff Zucker, announced that he is appointing a special intellectual property deputy and is proposing new legislation that would boost penalties for movie theather camcording.
Cuomo's proposal would update the existing illegal recording statute by making it a misdemeanor to either illegally record a film or live performance or use an illegal recording for commercial purposes. First time offenders would face of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine and multiple repeat offenders would be charged with a felony and even higher penalties. Currently, the state only charges illegal film recording as a violation and slaps offenders with a small fee.
"New York has become the hub for a criminal network dedicated to film piracy," Cuomo said. The piracy costs the state vital economic resources, including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue, he said, adding: "We are all paying a price for the leniency given to this type of organized crime, and I will not let it continue on my watch."
My obsession with NBC's "30 Rock" requires I mention that the show's star, Tina Fey, was also part of the press conference. "It's discouraging to see the widespread effects piracy has had on our industry," she said in a press release. "Piracy is an issue that is often overlooked, but is one that has an enormous negative impact on every person who works in entertainment, from the stagehands, to the actors, to the producers and so on."
C'mon Tina. That wasn’t a very funny quote. I was expecting something better. When you do these public service announcement type of things you gotta bring your A-game -- like this.
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Intellectual Property
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