Music and film associations merge anti-piracy enforcement operations in Brazil

Brazil selected as first major market for creation of joint entity

Sao Paulo, 11th April 2007

The music and film industries in Brazil are coming together to combine their anti-piracy efforts it was announced today. This is the first merger between the anti-piracy units of the two industries in Latin America and one of the few such combined operations around the world.

Apdif, which is the anti-piracy arm of the music industry in Brazil, will be merging with Adepi, the organisation that acts on behalf of the film industry, to form a new association called Associacao Antipirateria Cinema and Musica (APCM).

Brazil is still one of the major pirate markets in the world, with more than one billion music tracks illegally downloaded each year and counterfeit discs accounting for up to half of all CDs and DVDs sold in the country. Such rampant piracy directly affects Brazilian composers, artists and producers as local repertoire accounts for 75 per cent of the music market.

Total losses to the audiovisual and music industries in Brazil are estimated at US$198 million per year. According to data provided by the Brazilian National Anti-Piracy Council (CNCP), pirate products cost the Brazilian economy two million jobs per year and reduce tax revenues by US$15 billion.

Today's merger has been facilitated by the progress made by the Brazilian government in its fight against physical piracy. It is hoped that the joint organisation will be an even more effective partner for the government in its anti-piracy actions.

Antonio Borges, General Director of APCM, says: "Piracy in Brazil is undermining the ability of the music and film industries to invest in the next generation of local talent. Lower revenues from current sales mean less money to invest in new artists. Buying films and music from pirates means participating in a form of cultural suicide.

"The music and film industries are teaming up to help the police in their investigations into the criminal gangs involved in both physical and online piracy. We hope that today's announcement puts these people on notice."

Iain Grant, Worldwide Head of Enforcement for IFPI, applauded the move. "Seeking strategic partnerships to achieve common goals is part of our approach to fighting piracy and defending intellectual property rights. This is a step forward for recording industry rights holders in Brazil."

John Malcolm, Vice President for Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Iain Grant will make a joint announcement in Sao Paulo, where the new Alliance for the Protection of Cinema and Music (APCM), will be headquartered.

Tomorrow, Malcolm and Grant will discuss the development personally with Tarso Genro, the Brazilian Minister of Justice, to whom they will also express their appreciation for the work of Brazil's National Anti-Piracy Council, established by the Ministry of Justice in late 2004.

"We are enthusiastic about this union, the first of its kind in Latin America and the first in a country with a market both as large and as with as much potential as Brazil" said John Malcolm. "We firmly believe that by uniting forces in Brazil, we will be able to leverage greater results than either entity could achieve on its own."

NOTES TO EDITORS

About IFPI

IFPI represents the recording industry worldwide, with a membership comprising some 1400 record companies in around 70 countries. IFPI's mission is to promote the value of recorded music, safeguard the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music in all markets where its members operate.

About MPA

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) represents the interests of major motion picture companies in the global marketplace. MPA member companies include: Buena Vista International, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation; Twentieth Century Fox International Corporation; Universal International Films, Inc.; and Warner Bros. Pictures International, a division of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.