Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/39968
CONTENT THEFT SAG, Industry Groups Launch Creative America Campaign: UNITED TO FIGHT CONTENT THEFT S SAG has launched a Web page in support of efforts to discourage content theft. Visit it at SAG.org/Content-Theft. click here for video creen Actors Guild has been working hard to combat content theſt to protect our members' hard work and ensure they receive the compensation to which they are entitled. As a part of that effort, in July SAG teamed up with AFTRA, DGA and IATSE, as well as major studios and networks, to launch the Creative America Campaign to inform the public and discourage content theſt. Creative America provides a unified voice for those in the industry whose livelihoods depend on being paid for the intellectual property they help to create. With more than 2 million Americans involved in aspects of the film and television industry, the economic impacts are real. Theſt of movies and TV shows has already cost 140,000 jobs in the United States — jobs we can't afford to lose. One of the first actions of the campaign is to push for legislation to help stop the looting of America's creative works. For example, the PROTECT-IP Act authorizes the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue foreign websites that illegally distribute movies and TV shows and target U.S. consumers. People from all sectors of the entertainment industry, as well as other members of the public, are being asked to join the campaign. "Digital theſt is not a victimless crime — it harms working people and families. It is stealing, pure and simple; it erases the income that actors depend on to make a living," said SAG National Executive David White. "If we don't take the future of our industry seriously, no one else will." Email Congress and follow Creative America on Facebook and Twitter at creativeamerica.org. Copyright Alerts Warn Users Another milestone in the fight against content theft is an agreement on a framework for "Copyright Alerts," a system similar to credit card fraud alerts that will inform Internet users when their account is possibly being used for content theft. With the wealth of information available online, users can't always be sure if what they are downloading or viewing is legitimate or is violating copyright law. The Copyright Alert system is a voluntary agreement between leaders in the Internet service provider and entertainment communities that sends users up to six notifications if their account is identified as being in violation. Internet service providers may enforce mitigation measures if the alerts are ignored. The system will be particularly useful for parents, who may not know that their Internet connection is being misused. Studies show that when people know that content they are utilizing is stolen, and the possible consequences, they are less likely to repeat that behavior. performers. National Executive Director David White, Deputy National Executive Director and General Counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Director of Agency Relations Zino Macaluso and Director of Background Actors Terri Becherer, have been working with the California state labor commissioner and Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Mark Lambert to end the practice of charging performers fees for access to work. On May 18, the Los Angeles City A Attorney's office and the State Labor Commission announced that the agencies sent a cease-and-desist letter to the industry's largest background casting company, Central Casting in Burbank, Calif., warning it that requiring actors to pay a fee as a precondition to working is a violation of California labor law and threatening legal action if it did not comply. On May 25, Central Casting announced that it would comply. The City Attorney's office also sent 13 letters to other background casting companies operating in the city with the aim to achieve similar results. SAG hopes to have similar success in the New York area and around the country, but faces different sets of laws. HELP FOR MEMBERS: Emergency financial assistance in times of crisis is available for eligible SAG members through the SAG Foundation (sagfoundation.org). Members in New York and east of Omaha, Neb, should contact SAG Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund (SAG.org/mppwf), (212) 221-7300, ext. 119. SAG.org Summer 2011 - SCREEN ACTOR 15 fter years of effort, SAG has achieved a victory for background SAG's Advocacy on Behalf of Background Actors Pays Off