November 18, 2010
LOS ANGELES American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE), and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) today released the following statement:
“Our four guilds and unions commend the Senate Judiciary Committee for unanimously reporting S.3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, and recommending the bill for consideration and passage by the full Senate. The bill, introduced by Chairman Patrick Leahy together with a bipartisan group of seventeen senators, will give U.S law enforcement agencies more effective tools to fight the foreign profiteers who threaten our member's livelihoods by trafficking in stolen content.
“Together, we represent more than 300,000 film, TV, and recording artists and craftspeople in the entertainment and media industries. There are many voices in this debate but we believe few have a more real stake in the outcome than our members. That is why protecting the films, television shows, sound recordings and other content made by our members and enjoyed by audiences around the world is all the more urgent given the monumental and unchecked growth of Internet theft in recent years. The forsaken jobs and looted revenues that are so casually disregarded by both the operators of rogue sites and those who seek to protect their illegal activity reflect real wages, residuals, benefits and opportunities lost to our members forever thanks to those who knowingly and purposely traffic in Internet theft.
“We believe today’s committee action is the first step in making it much more difficult for rogue site operators to run their sites with impunity. We will continue to wholeheartedly support efforts such as this legislation that protect our members’ unique and essential contributions to American culture.”