Motion Picture Association signs up to assist the IPR Center with anti-piracy efforts

WASHINGTON D.C. – The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) as well as CTAM, the industry marketing organization, today announced a multi-layered partnership designed to strengthen innovation and collaboration within the organizations’ collective content protection efforts.

Derek N. Benner, Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement which oversees the IPR Center, and Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the MPA, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during a virtual ceremony to commemorate the partnership.

A public service awareness campaign starting today, developed through this new partnership, was also unveiled at the event.

The MOU sets forth mutual efforts and activities designed to supplement HSI’s digital piracy investigations and other intellectual property rights investigations related to the mission of the IPR Center. These include connecting resources and sharing information within the anti-piracy community.

The Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) is also a critical partner in the relationship. The GIPC will disseminate these timely messages about online safety to the business community and to consumers.

“It’s never been more important to ensure consumers around the globe continue to benefit from every-device access to new content generated by America’s creators. Global digital piracy costs the U.S. economy $29.2 billion a year, money that would otherwise be spent to create more, safe access to new content generated by American creators and workers,” said David Hirschmann, President and CEO of the Global Innovation Policy Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It’s important for consumers to understand the personal risks they’re taking when they engage with pirated content, including exposure to identity theft, malware, other criminal activity as well as the economic consequences. The new MOU and its public service awareness campaign will keep Americans informed about digital piracy, so that they can keep safe from its reach.”

“The MPA and ACE are dedicated to reducing piracy and this new partnership with the IPR Center strengthens our ability to continue to do this important work,” said Temple.

Added Jan van Voorn, EVP of Global Content Protection for the MPA, “We are grateful to the IPR Center for joining us in this fight and we’re confident that this will make a big difference in our enforcement efforts going forward.”

In December 2019, the IPR Center launched “Operation Intangibles” in response to an increase in pirated goods across the digital ecosystem. The operation is designed to combat transnational copyright infringements, and digital piracy activities impacting the content creative industries and the U.S. economy. The public can learn more about the IPR Center’s commitment to protect and defend consumers and copyrights holders here.

The HSI partnership with the MPA comes at a time when more people are home streaming movies and television shows during the global Coronavirus pandemic and streaming piracy continues to grow representing 80% of all piracy today. Unlawful piracy operations put innovation, creativity and investment at risk, to the detriment of creators, innovators and consumers alike. Additionally, consumers are harmed when accessing illegal content – one-third of pirate sites target consumers with malware that can lead to a range of problems, including identity theft and financial loss, according to a report by Digital Citizens Alliance.

This new partnership provides critical new opportunities to assist law enforcement in their investigations of persons and criminal organizations involved in the illegal act of duplicating, copying, or sharing digital works without the legal permission of the copyright holders.

The PSA campaign will be used on consumer facing websites to educate the public about the dangers of malware and the economic impact of piracy to the creative communities. The IPR Center and ACE envision broad viewing of the 30 and 90 second PSA across both video and social networks. Additional partners including CTAM, through its Stream Safely initiative and the Digital Citizens Alliance will also use the PSAs in upcoming outreach effort to warn consumers about the dangers of piracy.

About the MPA and ACE

The MPA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members are Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Netflix, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Alliance for Creativity in Entertainment (ACE) is the world’s leading global coalition dedicated to reducing piracy and protecting the dynamic legal marketplace for creative content.

ACE draws upon the global content protection resources of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in concert with the internal content protection expertise of ACE members.

About the IPR Center

IPR Center brings together public and private partners, in a task force setting utilizing a three-pronged approach (interdiction, investigation, and community outreach), to coordinate a whole-of-government and industry response to combat intellectual property theft and enforce U.S. international trade laws.

About the Global Innovation Policy Center

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center is working around the world to champion innovation and creativity through intellectual property standards that create jobs, save lives, advance global economic and cultural prosperity, and generate breakthrough solutions to global challenges.