The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and our parent union the IATSE, along with major film and television studios, have launched ©reative America, a coalition dedicated to addressing the ongoing problem of content theft.
From the organization's website:
Right now, not everyone in the community recognizes what a grave threat content theft poses to our livelihood and creativity – that thieves are making millions of dollars trafficking in stolen film and television while our jobs, pensions and residuals continue to decline. And content theft undermines all the new, legitimate services providing movies and TV online quicker and easier than ever before.
To be successful in the fight against content theft, we must make our voice heard in Washington and in communities across America.
Creative America is supported by an unprecedented coalition of major entertainment unions, guilds, studios, and networks, including American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, CBS Corporation, the Directors Guild of America, IATSE International, NBC Universal, the Screen Actors Guild, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox, Viacom, the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Join us and help spread the word!
- Join the movement – sign up to be a part of Creative America, and receive campaign updates.
- Stay informed – visit CreativeAmerica.org often to learn the latest news.
- Tell people about the threat content theft poses to our jobs and creativity.
- Ask Congress to support legislation that fights content theft by sending letters from CreativeAmerica.org.
- Spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
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9 comments:
I'm all for protecting content, but if their only weapon is the braindead PROTECT IP proposal, I feel sorry for them.
Can a non-animator join this group?
Anonymous @ 8:10 am: Yes.
Anonymous @ 1:39 am: I don't think anyone imagines that the PROTECT IP Act is the be-all end-all answer to the problem. But there has to be a stick to match the carrots.
It certainly isn't any more pie-in-the-sky than all the flighty talk of "alternate revenue streams" that some people think will instantly solve the problem.
The simple fact is that digital theft affects not only corporate profits but our benefits as well. Increases in hourly contributions are more than offset by health care cost increases. Case in point: effective July 31 our qualifying hours are increasing from 300 per six months to 400. This is a direct result of digital theft.
Although I believe the ACA will eventually result in lower health costs, no one thinks it will happen fast enough. We have to: a) raise awareness of the scope of the problem, and b) address the solutions.
"... our qualifying hours are increasing from 300 per six months to 400. This is a direct result of digital theft."
I am not defending illegal use of content, but I am sure that in no statement published by TAG or the MPIHPP is it claimed that there is a single direct proven link between our increased qualifying healthcare hours and digital theft. In members' minds, rising healthcare costs should be the largest single factor that determines qualifying hours in any equation that TAG and MPIHPP uses to determine the solvency of funds. If you are implying that our qualifying hours are determined by the loss of income from digital theft claimed by media conglomerates, please provide the source of that data and how it is both accurate and measurable, in addition to how you calculate this direct loss of income toward the loss of health insurance for many members.
I doubt that any member who has lost his or her insurance from the recent raise in qualifying hours would settle for the answer that it is because digital theft suffered by the media conglomerates with which you have a collective bargaining agreement, and it is this and this only that has made it impossible for TAG to continue to provide care for long working dues paying members. Where is the accountability here, TAG? Certainly not with your statement above.
There is not content theft. There is a changing of the paradigm. Peopl are not getting creative content as quickly as they should because of the inability of the studios and the industry to provide that content - for a price that matches the service.
look no further than Netflix. Netflix would love to have all the movies in their library available on instant view, but the studios only lease out some and for limited times. There is no reason for this to be happening.
You can explain the majority of piracy as a reaction to the archaic way of thinking at major studios that refuses to provide content in the manner in which audiences demand it.
At the end of the day, going to your netflix page and clicking on a movie to watch is EASIER than downloading it from a piracy site. People put up with the hardship of bit torrents(yes they take a long time) because the industry is not providing content the way people demand it.
And the studios lose money because of their own stupid, ancient way of thinking.
This whole piracy thing makes me laugh. Watching the old codgers who can't see the writing on the wall suffer and complain about lost profits when its all their own doing.
I disagree. Paring down the problem to "the studios dont instantly provide movies to Netflix" is simplistic.
There is some validity to revenues being lost by people downloading Tangled the day after it comes out in theaters.
I counter your "old codger who can't see the writing on the wall" stereotype with a "young entitled kids who think everything should be free and who cares if movie studios close and stealing isnt stealing if it's really easy and you cant get caught it's all about MEEEE" stereotype.
To the 3:04 anonymous: My plumber won't immediately fix my pipes when they clog. The only rational paradigm is slavery, where my plumber is at my beck and call whenever I need him.
Last night I was in a restaurant, and my meal did not instantly arrive in sync with my appetite. So I walked back into the kitchen, took some food, and walked out the back without paying. Theft is okay if it increases your convenience, right?
Your logic leaves much to be desired. Your own examples aren't even consistent. If what the world wants in Netflix, then any film that gets put on Netfilx should no longer be pirated. Do you really believe that's true?
Your characterization of the masses as being selfish and greedy isn't even relevant to the discussion.
Because the masses now have the power to download what they want. technology dictates the path, not any sentiment. So stuff your complaints in a sack and start considering how to appease the demand. your take on 'the way it should be' has no leverage.
What we are seeing with movies is the exact same thing we saw with music. The whole industry imploded because the guys at the top didn't recognize that they needed to change the way they provide the product once technology changed the paradigm.
Take note.
What a waste of effort this initiative is. To "make their voices heard" about "thieves who steal content".
Here is a novel idea: how about pressuring movie studios to streamline the content online for people to watch for a monthly fee. You can't fit the record executives in the Astrodome who are hitting themselves on the head for not initiating that idea before the bottom dropped out of their industry and iTunes swept in and cleaned up.
Face facts: you can't stop people from getting what they want, so give it to them easier for a nominal fee.
You don't turn down a profit. Especially in favor of useless complaining
"...our qualifying hours are increasing from 300 per six months to 400. This is a direct result of digital theft."
Really? A direct result? You drinking the corporate Kool-aid TAG? Members losing their benefits because they no longer qualify would laugh in your face if you told them it was piracy of corporate digital content that stole their healthcare. Do you have any accountability TAG or do you only pass the buck when convenient?
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