Australia, a Notorious Pirated DVD Market, Says Motion Picture Association of America
On Oct 28, 2013, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) released a report on world's most notorious markets for illegal film and TV distribution.
The MPAA's report listed all notorious peer-to-peer networks, Bit Torrent portals, infringing download and streaming hubs, linking Web sites and newsgroups, as well as physical markets located in the Ukraine, Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Brazil, Russia, Thailand, Mexico and India.
"The American motion picture and television industry is a major U.S. employer that supports approximately 2 million jobs and over $104 billion in total wages in all 50 states. The rogue overseas marketplaces highlighted in the filing undermine the people who work hard to create the movies and TV shows audiences love, and jeopardize the billions of dollars they contribute to the U.S. economy. The MPAA commends the USTR's commitment to protect and enforce intellectual property rights abroad and, in so doing, protect U.S. jobs," MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd stated in a statement from MPAA.
Australia is listed under the category of "Notorious Physical Markets." The listed notorious physical markets are locations around the world where people can buy burned or pressed infringing optical discs, said the report.
Those locations listed under this category proved to be the most challenging for rights holder as these markets are being managed by organised criminal syndicates.
"Counterfeiting is widely used to generate cash for diverse criminal organisations. In the case of DVD film piracy, criminal groups are moving to control the entire supply chain, from manufacture to distribution to street sales, consolidating power over this lucrative black market and building substantial wealth and influence in virtually every region of the globe," stated a separate report on Film Piracy, Organised Crime and Terrorism.
The MPAA particularly named the Caribbean Garden and Markets at Scoresby, Victoria, Australia, as the largest undercover market of pirated DVDs at over 10,000 sqm, with its operations from Wednesday until Sunday of every week.
"There are between 10-20 individual market sellers offering counterfeit Region 1 & 2 DVDs, together with other sellers offering burnt DVDs of recently released titles. The total number of sellers, while substantially reduced from mid-2000s, has increased recently due to a lack of enforcement. State and federal police have shown no interest in enforcing the issue despite multiple entreaties from right holders," MPAA alleged.
Meanwhile, in ABC's PM programme, reporter Will Ockenden said that Robbie Ager, operations manager for Caribbean Gardens and Markets, told Fairfax that the information given by MPAA are all outdated as sellers at the Caribbean Gardens and Markets are now selling original DVDS.
In April 2013, the Australian Federal Police said that it had received one referral from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft alleging copyright infringements at the Caribbean Gardens and Markets. However, the referral was denied per the AFP's Case Categorisation Prioritisation Model.