Movie pirates are next on City Hall’s hit list.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg lambasted both the scourge of illegal guns and the marketing of illegally copied DVDs yesterday, vowing to help Hollywood combat the piracy.
“We’re not going to rest until we get guns out of the hands of criminals and protect our children on the streets, and we’re not going to rest until we help industries that want to be here to be able to benefit from the fruits of their labor, you know, the people who work in these movies – whether they’re in front of the camera or behind the camera,” Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference.
First, city cops will work together with the film industry to bust local piracy rings. In particular, cops will look to identify buildings that house piracy operations and pursue the landlords for allowing the illegal activity to take place.
Second, the city will ask the State Legislature to make it a Class A misdemeanor to make illegal recordings of a copyrighted work, such as sneaking a camcorder into a movie theater. Violators could face up to a year in jail for the first offense and up to four years in jail for the second offense.
“What the mayor is doing now is taking this and ratcheting it a step forward and making this a priority here, which is unequaled in the United States in terms of the level of engagement,” said Dan Glickman, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America.
The entertainment industry says it loses an estimated $6 billion a year from pirated movies.
Bloomberg also announced an initiative to increase diversity in the local entertainment industry workforce.
BY CHUCK BENNETT
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