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City and Industry Representatives Discuss Impact of Piracy with NY Supreme Judges

Viacom’s Stanley Pierre-Louis addresses a meeting of the New York State Supreme Judges Association.

April 12, 2012 - At a recent meeting of the New York State Supreme Judges Association, representatives of the entertainment industry spoke about the economic impact of digital piracy. The representatives were on hand to foster a discussion on how to change the perception of piracy from being considered a nuisance crime to one that has a significant negative impact on the economy and jobs. This discussion was organized as part of the overall campaign to raise public awareness about the threat of digital piracy.

Kathleen McGee, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, outlined the City’s efforts in recent years to combat piracy. In September 2011, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment hosted a two-part summit to examine the climate around piracy in schools, the entertainment industry and in the judicial system with members from each of these sectors.

“The take-away from the summit session with representatives from the legal and law enforcement community was to create further opportunities for this community to spread awareness of the issue and ongoing challenges of combating piracy,” said McGee.

“Just steps away from the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, street corners are overrun with counterfeit DVDs, CDs and other products,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, VP & Associate GC, Intellectual Property & Content Protection, Viacom Inc when he took the floor. “These vendors are undaunted by the justice system that sits just a few hundred feet away. Our efforts to address this problem – as well as the City's – have had a positive impact on the problem. But that doesn't mean the problem has gone away.”

Russ Hollander, the Associate National Executive Director/Eastern Executive Director of the Directors Guild of America, spoke about the impact piracy has on members of the unions who work in the entertainment industry. “Speaking on behalf of the entertainment guilds and unions that represent 400,000 creators and craftspeople whose creativity and innovation are at the heart of the American entertainment industry, it’s important to understand that digital theft adversely impacts our community in multiple ways,” said Hollander. “The works created by our members – the result of talent, creativity, innovation, collaboration and years of hard work – are not only valuable contributions to our culture but deserve to be protected from those who willingly seek to illegally profit from creative works that they had no hand in financing or creating.”

In the days following the meeting, the City released its latest PSA in its campaign against digital piracy. This time, the PSA video aims to educate NYC youth about the harmful effects of illegal content theft, and was inspired by a concept conceived by a local high school student with the support from the creative industry and government partners. Click here to learn more.
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