Film Distributors’ Association Against File-Sharing

[Guest Black-Widow]

David Puttnam, the president of the British Film Distributors’ Association, an ex-head at Columbia Pictures and a movie producer, called for a more direct approach in the battle against online piracy.

The newspapers quoted his speech at a London meeting that hosted the representatives from the creative industry. David Puttnam said that an important step for the technology sector was to indicate legitimate search options much more clearly and to remove links to online services promoting unauthorized content.

He also pointed out that during London’s Olympic year, the UK movie distribution should be supported in order to help this area of business remain strong in the future. Such “investment” could allow the British cinema admissions and box-office to flourish further.

David Puttnam has also introduced an information campaign for the public, trying to explain the importance of copyright for the movie and music industries, along with creating jobs and attracting investment. The British intellectual property is currently flourishing, with over 10% of national exports coming from the movie and music industries.

FDA’s president claims that the country still needs to do everything possible to make sure that there is a state aid regime that keeps supporting UK movie culture and the audiences for UK film, like it has been doing over the last years. His main concern is that the EU will move from a system of licensing rights based on national borders to a unified system. He strongly believes that the key to the digital future (if not the present) lies in forging new models, establishing and sustaining new relationships with the public.

After the British Film Institute (BFI) announced that Ben Roberts (ex-executive at Universal Pictures International) would be handling the $33 million annual film fund, David Puttnam made a suggestion to the BFI to prioritize funding for movie distribution.

The statistics gathered by Film Distributors’ Association shows that 580 movies were released in the United Kingdom, with $550 million being invested by distributors to support the film releases. This sum includes a $325 million media advertising spend last year.