MONTREAL, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. film distributor said it will consider delaying releasing new titles to Canadian theaters if Canadian officials don't act to curb movie piracy.
A Twentieth Century Fox investigation showed that most of the illegal recording occurs in Montreal theaters, where "camcorders" can take advantage of bilingual releases and lax copyright laws, CanWest news service said. As much as 50 percent of the world's pirated movies come from Canada.
Ellis Jacob, chief executive of the Cineplex Entertainment theater chain, said he received a letter from Bruce Snyder, president of Fox's domestic distribution, warning of a possible slowdown in releasing titles to that county.
"They are definitely thinking about delaying releases in Canada," said Jacob.
The movie industry said the Canadian Copyright Act, as well as internal policies of police forces, make it difficult to crack down on movie piracy.
Under the act, anyone caught copying a movie without the studio's consent can be jailed or fined up to $25,000. Copyright holders can file a civil action.
Serge Corriveau, vice president and national director of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, said law enforcement agencies don't see movie piracy as a big problem.
