For Immediate
Release: April 20, 2004
Audio
Clip
Senator Glenn Coffee
Movie Piracy Act Signed
Gov. Brad
Henry has given the green light to legislation cracking
down on movie piracy. Senator Glenn
Coffee is principal author of the measure and said it
will give local law enforcement the authority to go after
people who illegally videotape movies.
“This is a huge problem for the film industry. The
Motion Picture Association of America estimates losses of
$3 billion last year because of this type of theft and it’s
expected to climb even higher,” explained Coffee,
R-OKC.
“There are people who get paid several thousand dollars
to take hand-held video cameras into theatres and illegally
film movies. This is stealing just as if they were reaching
into the box office cash register, but this kind of theft
wasn’t specifically addressed in our state laws until
now,” Coffee said.
Senate Bill 1234 makes movie piracy a misdemeanor offense
punishable by up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.
“We’ve worked hard to create incentives to make
our state an attractive place to make movies. When production
companies do film here, it brings a lot of attention to
Oklahoma and boosts economies in the communities where they’re
filming. Just one movie, “Twister,” had a $13
million impact in our state. I think the passage of this
legislation helps show the industry we’re behind them,”
said Coffee.
The new law takes effect on July 1, 2004.
For
more information contact:
Senate
Communications Office - (405) 521-5774
