# 50% of Movie Piracy comes from Canada! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379 "2007-04-09T21:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/1 "2007-04-09T21:52:06Z")
No, really. I heard it from a representative of the CRIA (the Canadian arm of the RIAA) on the radio yesterday and confirmed it at a website [here](http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=b3dea202-82da-4ad9-b6f8-277923bc1f6b): \*\*“As much as 50 per cent of the world’s pirated movies come from Canada, prompting the film industry to threaten to delay the release of new titles in this country”. \*\* That’s shocking! There are over 200 countries in the world and we are outdoing countries like Taiwan, China, Russia, the States, India and Malaysia combined. How are we doing it? By cheating. Instead of using expensive duplication facilities to copy movies as soon as they are released to theatres (sometimes while the movies are in transit), or getting copies of DVD screeners before the movies come out, we simply camcorder the screen. I have a couple questions though: Has anyone every watched a wobbly camcorded movie from a crowded movie theater? If the CRIA delays releasing movies in Canada because of our 50% piracy rate, is that going to encourage or discourage piracy? p.s. I hope I got the right forum, if not feel free to move it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/2 "2007-04-09T22:11:41Z")
I have a somewhat decent copy of “Star Trek: Generations” that was the product of camcorder-movie screen. It’s wobbly, nasty, and you can hear the audience laughing. But it was five bucks. This was, of course, before the advent of digital movie reproduction, and I’d never do it again. The side of my sliding scale labeled “desire to watch it now” has been permanently underweighted by the quality of DVD and bittorrent. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/3 "2007-04-09T22:17:59Z")
> [@linked story](#): > > According to an investigation by Twentieth Century Fox, most of the illegal recording, or “camcording,” is taking place in Montreal movie houses, taking advantage of bilingual releases and lax copyright laws…In Quebec, it is much more advantageous because you get both English and French. You cover a bigger part of the world," said Ellis Jacob, chief executive of the Cineplex Entertainment theatre chain. "They are using Canada because they can have the movie out on the street in the Philippines and China before it even releases there Well, there’s your ‘why Canada’. But the best part about the story is this, accompanying the picture of Johnny Depp _a la_ POTC: > [@](#): > > Here’s the scenario: You have a story about movies. But your story is also about pirates stealing movies. Clearly you have no choice but to run a picture of Johnny Depp playing a pirate in a movie. And voila, the Circle of Life is complete. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/4 "2007-04-09T22:19:15Z")
All these years we’ve been unsuccesfully trying to find ways to reduce the bombarment of Canada by Hollywood crapola, when all along all we had to do to get them to reduce the flow was pirate what they send us. Who’d a thunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/5 "2007-04-09T22:30:18Z")
Camcorded movies are horrible. Wobbly recording, people wandering in front of the screen, people talking, and of course, the echoing audio. If you want to watch a movie _that_ badly that you’ll suffer the big screen experience on a small screen with lousy sound, I humbly submit that you _really_ need to find a better hobby. Or at least have the patience to wait for the screener. 😉 I’d rather wait for the real DVD if I like the movie and really want to see it. Even the ripped one-CD screeners tend to look pretty bad compared to the real DVD – the massive compression required to bring a 4+ gig DVD (larger if it’s dual layer) down under 800 megs really takes its toll. It’s fine on a smalls screen though – I’ve ripped some of my DVDs and TV series to watch on my PDA at 512x384 and they look great. But that’s the only circumstance under which I’ll deal with movie rips – and I’d rather rip them myself from the original DVDs 'cos I can optimize the quality. As for whether or not delaying releases here will halt piracy, the answer is a very firm _no!_ It’ll just start coming out from somewhere else that it’s released, then someone else can take credit for supplying 50% of the world’s pirated movies. Pretty soon it’ll be delayed _everywhere_ and we can start the ride all over again until the only place you can see a movie in it the screening room of the movie studio. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/6 "2007-04-09T22:34:35Z")
This claim is more than likely [crap](http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1656/159/), for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/7 "2007-04-09T22:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] This claim is more than likely [crap](http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1656/159/), for what it’s worth. [/QUOTE] Let’s not let any facts confuse the issue. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/8 "2007-04-09T22:51:52Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] This claim is more than likely [crap](http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1656/159/), for what it’s worth. [/QUOTE] Aren’t they always? This is the MPAA/MPDA we’re talking about. Any possible study, regardless of how unsubstantiated or outright fabricated, is fodder for their anti-piracy propaganda machine as long as it’s quotable. Independent reviews? Factual cites from credible sources? Numbers that actually mean something? Goodness, there’s no time for that, the movie industry is foundering under billions in lost revenue from rampant Canadian pirates with cheap camcorders! Bend over, curl off some numbers and print that sucker! Not even the critics can yell loud enough to drown out our whining, so no one will know the difference! ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/9 "2007-04-09T22:59:55Z")
Of course, makes perfect sense to me. 50% comes from Canada, 50% from the US, 50% from China, 50% from Taiwan, the other 50% from Mexico, and the remaining 275% from EU. I’m basing these numbers on the assumption that their math is no better than RIAA ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/10 "2007-04-09T23:25:18Z")
The silly sods are upset that our laws are not tough enough, claiming that the maximum penalty is [$25,000](http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=b3dea202-82da-4ad9-b6f8-277923bc1f6b). In fact, the maximum penalty is [$1,000,000 and five years](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowDoc/cs/C-42/bo-ga:l_III::bo-ga:l_IV//en?page=3&isPrinting=false#codese:42). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/11 "2007-04-09T23:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mikemike2] prompting the film industry to threaten to delay the release of new titles in this country. [/QUOTE] With a little work, we can change Canada from being the source of 50% of pirated movies to the market for 50% of pirated movies. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/12 "2007-04-09T23:32:50Z")
I never knew that Canada was such a lawless wild frontier land with 50% of the world’s movie piracy. I am going to start wearing my cowboy boots year round. Are you talking to me…? ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/13 "2007-04-09T23:40:24Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] With a little work, we can change Canada from being the source of 50% of pirated movies to the market for 50% of pirated movies. [/QUOTE] That’s funny 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/14 "2007-04-09T23:42:23Z")
Maybe if the US film industry delays introduction of Hollywood titles, English Canada can finally escape from the shadow of the big US distribution companies and become its own market, instead of being considered part of the US “domestic” market, and we can see our _own_ stories up on the silver screen. Cultural nationalist? Me? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/15 "2007-04-09T23:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Maybe if the US film industry delays introduction of Hollywood titles, English Canada can finally escape from the shadow of the big US distribution companies and become its own market, instead of being considered part of the US “domestic” market, and we can see our _own_ stories up on the silver screen. [/QUOTE] _Goin’ Down The Road II_: The heartwarming sequel to Don Shebib’s original classic. Now, the boys leave Nova Scotia not for Toronto but for Fort MacMurray, where once again, they drink, chase women, drink, lose their jobs, drink, and go home. Or there’s: _Yet Another Atom Egoyan/Don McKellar Art Film_: Atom directs and Don stars in something–we’re not sure what–that all the critics are acclaiming, all the _cogniscenti_ are talking about, and all the ordinary people who see movies for entertainment are staying far, far away from. Naw, I think we’ll have to improve our own stories first. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/16 "2007-04-10T00:05:01Z")
Thanks, Canada! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/17 "2007-04-10T00:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] Naw, I think we’ll have to improve our own stories first. 😃 [/QUOTE] Oh, I quite agree. Having been a member of [LIFT](http://www.lift.on.ca/mt/index.html) for a time, I’ve seen that there’s quite a community of English-language screenwriters in Canada. But it’d be nice not to have to go to LA to be successful. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/18 "2007-04-10T00:28:08Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] Naw, I think we’ll have to improve our own stories first. 😃 [/QUOTE] What, you didn’t like that flick about the naked dude running about on ice flows? I thougt it was terrific. There’s a lot of great stuff out there that seldom gets seen. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/19 "2007-04-10T00:34:19Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] The silly sods are upset that our laws are not tough enough, claiming that the maximum penalty is [$25,000](http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=b3dea202-82da-4ad9-b6f8-277923bc1f6b). In fact, the maximum penalty is [$1,000,000 and five years](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowDoc/cs/C-42/bo-ga:l_III::bo-ga:l_IV//en?page=3&isPrinting=false#codese:42). [/QUOTE] But that’s Canadian money, so it’s really only about $25,000 in US money. (nodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnod) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379/20 "2007-04-10T00:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] There’s a lot of great stuff out there that seldom gets seen. [/QUOTE] And that is the problem. Maybe the Canadian film industry/National Film Board/Sheridan College school of animation/Vancouver Film School/Ryerson University film school/etc should have their own TV channel. Oh, wait. That’s what the CBC is supposed to be for. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-movie-piracy-comes-from-canada/399379.md?page=2)