Memorandum submitted by Motion Picture
Association
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is a trade
association that represents seven major international producers
and distributors of films, home entertainment and television programmes.[51]
We welcome the opportunity to comment on the Committee's Inquiry
on new media and the creative industries. Our member companies
are confronting the opportunities and challenges of the digital
environment. While increasingly the Member Companies are licensing
their works to a broad array of new media platforms, they are
also confronting competition from digital piracy.
Some of the points that we wish to put forward
here have already been expressed to a certain extent in the Committee's
Inquiry on analogue switch-off (September 2005) and the more recent
Parliament All-Party Internet Group's Inquiry on DRM (see attached).
We shall format this submission following the
order of issues identified in the Inquiry notice.
The impact upon creative industries of recent
and future developments in digital convergence and media technology
Technology takes an ever decreasing time to
be rolled out on global markets. Innovation has reached such velocity
that soon digital, indeed high-definition digital, will be taken
for granted. The abundance of recent advances in broadband technology
(eg ADSL platforms), home entertainment (eg integrated in-home
digital networks), mobile or handheld technology (eg download,
streaming or "push" on handhelds), online or Internet
services, or wireless communication (eg local wireless, digital
terrestrial, etc.), makes one realize the immense potential of
new media for commercial deals and partnerships to the benefit
of consumers and society in general. Market figures and facts
are telling: in 2004 the number of broadband households in Western
Europe grew by 69.9%,[52]
HD-ready households are expected to exceed 20 million in 2008
and 80 million in 2012,[53]
France sold 110,000 digital receivers in the first week following
the launch of digital terrestrial television in France;[54]
and in October 2005, international content market MIPCOM held
"The Mobile TV Screenings and Awards".
The effects upon the various creative industries
of unauthorised reproduction and dissemination of creative content,
particularly using new technology; and what steps can or should
be taken—using new technology, statutory protection or other
means—to protect creators
Beyond market figures, one finds that the technology
and the creative industries share a vital interest in content
protection and interoperability. Digital technology, no matter
how advanced and innovative, will be forsaken by the creative
industries if the essential notion of content protection is neglected.
Worse than a zero-sum game between both sectors, if the creative
industry at all levels fails to be profitable because of the vulnerability
of its works on new media platforms, it will lose the necessary
resources to invest in the future, or simply disappear.
To cite but one example, namely that of the
illicit exchange of copyrighted material on online platforms in
the UK, according to a study by Envisional Ltd. (24 February 2005),
"The UK is the largest downloader of online pirate TV programmes
in the world" (...) and "[There is a C]urrent worldwide
explosion in online TV piracy of which around 18% is occurring
in Britain." We are precisely referring to the Inquiry's
issue of "unauthorised reproduction and dissemination of
creative content", which we like to subdivide into the issues
of (1) unauthorised re-transmission of unencrypted digital television
signals and (2) the conversion of protected digital broadcast
signals to analogue format and back to digital with the result
that any content protection enjoyed in the digital space is effectively
removed.
As regards the steps that should be taken to
protect creators, the MPA sees great merit in working with all
interested parties towards technological interoperable protections.
In that respect, the MPA has been actively involved in the work
of the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB), the goal of which
is the harmonious, market-driven development of digital broadcasting.
The DVB has notably been devoting important resources to the development
of effective Content Protection and Copy Management (CPCM) system.
The process is mindful of the importance of fostering an interoperability
that does not come at the expense of security. The Interoperability/security
equilibrium is one of the core principles of the DVB Project.
Of note, the first three elements of the CPCM specification were
approved by the DVB Project and published in November 2005. DVB
CPCM Reference Model, DVB CPCM Usage State Information and DVB
CPCM Abbreviations, Definitions and Terms are in the form of a
Bluebook (http://www.dvb.org/documents//a094.DVB-CPCM-combined.pdf)
for informational purposes and liaison with other interested standards
forums.
The extent to which a regulatory environment should
be applied to creative content accessed using non-traditional
media platforms
In our opinion, the UK Parliament could play
an important role in securing the continued introduction and use
of Digital Rights Management (DRM) tools in the digital marketplace,
and hence in the development of new digital media services to
the benefit of both consumers and content providers. General interests
are at stake (ie a transition to digital and interoperability
as well as the creation of cultural products) and public intervention
may be eminently necessary, either to provide for compliance with
any agreed standards addressing content protection or to address
the absence of an agreement on any standards at all (ie a market
failure).
Ad minimum, we would like the regulatory authorities
to:
— Continue to monitor the impact of
the implementation in the UK (and in other countries) of the EU
Copyright Directive, notably on rights holders, the marketplace,
the copyright exceptions (and its beneficiaries), as well as technological
development.
— Continue to provide input to the
Government relating to the general development of the digital
environment.
— Encourage and, as deemed appropriate,
facilitate the cooperation between content providers, telecom/mobile
operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and other interested
stakeholders with a view to clean up a marketplace plagued by
rampant piracy and effectively allow legal alternatives to flourish.
— Support market efforts to ensure
the development of interoperable standards for content protection.
Where the balance should lie between the rights
of creators and the expectations of consumers in the context of
the BBC's Creative Archive and other developments
The MPA applauds the application of innovative
technology for the licit distribution of content as long it is
consistent with copyright and respects rights of others in the
works. We take good note of the Creative Archive Licence Group
(CALG)'s "use [of] limited DRM" and "watermarking
technology" as well as "GEO-IP filtering" restricting
availability of the archive to UK citizens. We also note the CALG's
clarification that "[peer-to-peer] technology is not illegal.
When used for the distribution of legally licensed material, it
provides an efficient and cost effective means of sharing and
distributing content on the internet".[55]
51 The MPA's members comprise: Buena Vista International,
Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corporation,
Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation, Twentieth Century
Fox International Corporation, Universal International Films,
Inc., Warner Bros. Pictures International, a division of Warner
Bros. Pictures Inc. Back
52
European Audiovisual Observatory, Yearbook 2005. Back
53
Screen Digest, p 308, October 2005. Back
54
Screen Digest, p 134, May 2005. Back
55
http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk Back
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