This past December, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a request for public comment on the effectiveness of Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The purpose of this request is for the Copyright Office to “consider the costs and burdens of the notice-and-takedown process on large- and small-scale copyright... Read more
By: Doug Maddox
Ninth in the series. I produced The Bill Collector with actor Danny Trejo from Machete and Undaunted starring Allen Williamson from Abduction with Taylor Lautner. The Bill Collector had great success with its theatrical worldwide release. After some time, I got a call from the FBI stating that the film... Read more
On March 15th CreativeFuture and the Creative Rights Caucus hosted an event on Capitol Hill called “Meet the Producers.” The event explored what it really means to be a producer, focusing attention on the process of how movies and television shows actually get made – and how piracy jeopardizes the livelihoods... Read more
Photo Courtesy of Martha De Laurentiis
This piece first appeared in The Hill on March 15, 2016. I’ve had the great privilege of working in the film and television business for nearly four decades. I count myself among the fortunate few who have been able to oversee the production of movies and TV shows beloved by millions. To... Read more
Sixth in the series. I cut my teeth in the film business in the mid-80s, before the internet or even piracy was even a thing. Piracy back then was the guy on the street corner selling bootleg copies or the guy sitting in the back of the theater recording the... Read more
Photo by Ethan Kramer
By: Wayne Kramer
Fifth in the series. The day my most recent film, Pawn Shop Chronicles debuted on Video-On-Demand (which was on the same date as its theatrical release), the film was recorded in a perfect HD quality copy from one of its VOD rentals and illegally uploaded to the web. By the... Read more
Photos Courtesy of Film McQueen
By: Jane Clark and Bob Tourtellotte
Fourth in the series. We are independent filmmakers who thought we knew about piracy and its full impact until, of course, we didn’t. We had raised money, made movies on a budget, screened at festivals, marketed online, and purposefully released our films in the new world of electronic sales. With... Read more
Photo by udra11
Recently, Donuts, a domain registrar that manages new top-level domains such as .movie and .theater, forged a voluntary agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in which the MPAA – under very specific conditions – can act as a “Trusted Notifier” and alert Donuts when a site using one... Read more
By: Lisa Hammer
First in the series. I have been an artist my whole life. I spent thousands of hours and dollars studying film-making, music, and acting. I have been creating my own work since the 80s and for many, many years I was able to make a good living as a filmmaker/musician.... Read more
Photo by smutnypan
The path to becoming a filmmaker is a long and arduous journey. For student filmmakers still trying to hone their craft in film school, long nights at a keyboard as the computer screen lights up another cup of coffee are an all too familiar scene. But seeing it through to the... Read more