Recently, Victoria Espinel, who was appointed in September as the first Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator by the Obama Administration, released a government report on the cost of piracy. The numbers came as no surprise to those of us who have been following the issue, but they are still astonishing: Motion picture and video piracy costs the U.S. economy $20.5 billion annually in lost output. American workers lose $5.5 billion annually in earnings and 141,030 jobs that would otherwise have been created disappear. Overall, governments at local, state and federal levels are deprived of $837 million annually in lost tax revenue.

If any among us ever doubted just how personal the issue of piracy is to every member of our union, those numbers should drive home the fact that every one of us is hurt by intellectual property theft. It takes away our jobs and paychecks and puts our health and pension benefits at risk. Piracy is not a victimless crime, and it doesn’t just hurt faceless corporations. Piracy steals from us.

Thankfully, President Obama clearly sees how real this threat is. Last week, the governement also outlined a reorganization of the Justice Department to help it better respond to this problem, and the hiring of 15 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 20 FBI special agents focused on fighting domestic and international  intellectual property crimes. That kind of force is critical. As you will see in the article below, international pirates are getting extremely sophisticated. They are launching entire subscription sites that pose as legal content sites, but are actually selling illegal downloads of films and television shows. This makes it hard for consumers to even know that they are pirating.

In the coming months, both the IATSE and Local 600 will be talking to members more about this crisis in our industry and what we can do as a union, a guild and as individuals to fight it. Each of us needs to take a strong stand and let our friends and family know that illegally downloading entertainment or buying bootlegs is a serious problem and is hurting our families. I believe that if more Americans understood the impact of digital theft, attitudes would change. Realistically, we will probably never be able to completely irradicate piracy, but if we can make people understand the damage it does, I believe we can impact the number of people willing to take part in this crime.

Fraternally,
Steven Poster, ASC
ICG Local 600 National President

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