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Movie and music anti-piracy agencies merge in Brazil

11 April 2007 18:01 by James "Dela" Delahunty

In a first for Latin America, the music and film industries in Brazil are coming together to combine their anti-piracy efforts. Apdif, which is the anti-piracy arm of the music industry in Brazil, will be merging with Adepi, the organization 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.

"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," said Antonio Borges, General Director of APCM. "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 the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and John Malcolm, Vice President for Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) applauded the move and are set to make a joint announcement in Sao Paulo, where the new Alliance for the Protection of Cinema and Music (APCM), will be headquartered.

"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."

Source:
Press Release

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