23/01/2003 - The audiovisual industry unites in a call to the French government for more stringent and improved anti-black market legislation

Taking advantage of MIDEM, the international audiovisual market that is scheduled to end today in Cannes, the members of CLIC (the Cultural Industries’ Liaison Committee) sent an unequivocal message to the French government calling for legislation to protect digital films, audiovisual products and content from piracy.
Set up in 2001, CLIC is an umbrella organisation with 33 distinct associate-members from the audiovisual, film, book, graphic arts and music industries. They include ARP (writers-directors-producers), CSPEFF (French film producers and exporters), PROCIREP (film and television producers), SPFA (French animated film producers), SPI (the French independent producers’ union), UPF (the film producers’ guild) and USPA (the audiovisual production guild).
The industry has to face up to a huge increase in the online digital content black market and the requests made by CLIC to the French government include the encryption of products, to make the protection of cultural content a priority, greater copyright guarantees and more stringent controls of e-commerce. It is hope that these proposals influence the French minister for culture, Jean-Jacques Aillagon who is scheduled to announce a draft bill on "copyright in the information society" in a few weeks’ time. CLIC also hopes to convince the French government to revise a bill put forward on 15 January 2003 about the digital economy that does not however oblige Internet access suppliers to join the fight against piracy.

(Translated from French)