DGA President Supports Fighting P2P

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April 11, 2006
By Jesse Hiestand

DGA (the Directors Guild of America) president Michael Apted has expressed support of four French authors-rights organizations that are fighting legislation to legalize peer-to-peer downloading, the union said Monday.

Apted's letter said that the DGA shares the organizations' concerns about the possible negative effects of legalized P2P downloading in France.

Peer-to-peer technology has benefits, but it also carries many dangers, the most egregious of which is the potential for widespread and unauthorized piracy," Apted said. "Without the permission of the author of the work, who will be able to tell when personal use ends and piracy begins? It is the fundamental question of what is fair and right for the creators and those who made that creation possible."

The letter was sent to Bernard Miyet, president of the Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique; Francis Girod, president of the Societe des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques; Pascal Thomas, president of the Societe des Realisateurs de Films; and Claude Ziti, president of Societe Civile des Auteurs-Realisateurs-Producteurs.

The groups are working to rescind legislation passed in December by the French Parliament, which contained a provision to legalize P2P downloads for personal use. The vote has galvanized opposition to this provision among the French entertainment industry and international artists- and authors-rights organizations.

Apted said the parliament's actions raised many serious questions.

"Can directors survive when their films are exploited in ways that rob them of their livelihood?" Apted asked. "Will producers invest in work that risks being mass distributed before it even reaches the screen? But if filmmaking goes into decline, it won't only be us who are the losers but the culture and society that is the source of our inspiration."

Apted said the DGA was joined with the French organizations in trying to preserve films for future generation and to protect the rights of directors and others who create the films.

Source:backstage.com

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