| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 15, 2000
Contact:
Rich Taylor or Phuong Yokitis
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
202/293-1966
Emily Kutner
MPAA
818/995-6600
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST RECORDTV.COM
Complaint Seeks to End Unauthorized Copying and Performances of U.S. Copyrighted Television Programs and Films
Encino, CA (June 15, 2000)…Twelve motion picture and entertainment companies filed a complaint today in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against RecordTV.com and its operator, David Simon, who are operating out of the Los Angeles area. The complaint charges RecordTV with copying and publicly performing and displaying copyrighted television programs and motion pictures via a World Wide Web site without authorization. The complaint also charges the defendants with copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair competition, violation of cable television laws and other torts.
In this case, the defendants have publicly admitted that they are aware of plaintiffs’ rights under copyright law but refuse to respect them unless ordered to do so by a court of law.
The studios are asking the court to grant an injunction against RecordTV to stop the illegal copying, unauthorized performances and violation of trademark of U.S. copyrighted films and television programs owned by the plaintiffs.
In announcing the legal action, Jack Valenti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, issued the following statement:
"David Simon, willingly and knowingly, has built a business based on offering its customers access to valuable stolen property. One hundred percent of the profits are made from offering popular television programs and movies that Record TV has obtained no right to copy or display or have any part in distributing. We have absolute confidence in the facts of this matter and stand ready to present our case as soon as the Court deems appropriate."
"The studios joining together today invest billions of dollars every year to develop, distribute and promote the TV shows, movies and other content being offered by RecordTV. We have no problem with RecordTV’s use of new technologies, however, RecordTV is clearly not investing its own capital to create programming. Rather, they have chosen to construct a business model based on the theft of ours," said Valenti.
The plaintiffs included in the complaint are Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Disney Enterprises, Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.; CPT Holdings, Inc.; Columbia Pictures Television Inc.; TriStar Television, Inc.; TriStar Pictures, Inc.; ELP Communications; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Universal City Studios, Inc. and Warner Bros., Inc.
Additional information regarding this case may be found on the MPAA Web site at www.mpaa.org. |
