Motion Picture Association of America |
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a non-profit trade association formed to
advance the interests of movie studios. Its members consist of seven major
studios: the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount
Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. The organization produces the well-known voluntary film rating system.
The MPAA has been heavily criticized by some civil libertarians and
Internet activists for its strong stance against copyright infringements and its
support for the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act. The MPAA has sought to protect its members' interests by political lobbying for changes in copyright and criminal law. It seeks to promote digital rights management technologies, which are seen by some as infringing users' rights, and a
potential threat to freedom in the electronic domain.
The president of the MPAA is Jack Valenti. However, Valenti turned 82
years old in 2003, and announced his retirement at the Showest motion picture convention in
Las Vegas in March 2003. Valenti, a noted lobbyist in Washington, DC, served as president
starting in 1966, and has become nearly synonymous with the organization. In July 2004, the
MPAA announced that Dan Glickman would be replacing Valenti.
See: National
Association of Theatre Owners
Opposition to video recorders
When film recording devices first came onto the market, the MPAA was among those who opposed the devices, fearing they would
cut into movie sales. In a 1982 testimony before the House of Representatives, MPAA president Jack Valenti stated: "I say to you that the
VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." [1] . In Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios (1984), the
United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that
production of video recorders is legal, because they have substantial potential for non-infringing use.
Related Topics
- RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America
- DeCSS
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