Digital piracy hurting French artists, says government

IFACCA/Artshub, 31 January 2005
France

The French Minister of Culture and Communication has attended a meeting about the impact of digital piracy on the French Arts industry, signalling his commitment to address the issue. At the meeting, held in conjunction with a music festival in Bourges, Minister Vabres promised that France was going to get tough with illegal copiers of films and music. ‘To be a pirate today is to put our culture and musical creation in peril,’ he said. ‘I attach the greatest importance to defending authors, composers, creators, technicians.’ During the course of the meeting, he met with representative of the French music and film industries to start laying out a strategy to the exponential growth of pirating in France. ‘I want to see what technical measures can be taken to minimise these risks, which are leading to lay-offs,’ he said. The problem of pirating is seen as particularly bad for France’s small, national music and film industries, already struggling against the global popularity of American products. The SNEP, a national union of recording companies, told the minister how revenues in the first quarter of the year are down 20% on last year, and many companies are preparing for mass lay-offs of both employees and artists. Meanwhile, the National Cinematographic Centre (France's main source of state financing for cinema) and pay-tv network Canal Plus are planning to hold an “anti-piracy forum” in conjunction with this year’s Cannes Film Festival on May 12-23 this year. The Government’s commitment is expected to translate into tougher legislation and penalties for pirates, though some industry insiders think it will take more than that to stop the decline of product and profit. For more information (in French), CLICK HERE.

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