Cinema staff from across the UK were rewarded on July 5 for work in disrupting and preventing film piracy.
Some 17 staff members were invited to a ceremony at Twentieth Century Fox in London as part of a Fight Film Theft’ operation, run nationwide by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and funded by the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA).
The staff were each given a cash prize and certificate for spotting and tackling individuals who illegally record films in cinemas, such as Deadpool, The Jungle Book and Angry Birds as well as several Bollywood films.
The authorities reckon that 90pc of pirated films are sourced from cinemas. Hence inema staff from across the country receive training from FACT to provide them with the skills to spot and disrupt illegal recording. When they identify and report a piracy incident they are eligible to receive an award of up to £500.
The employees rewarded represented cinemas circuits Cineworld, Empire, Showcase and Vue and collectively they represented 17 incidents, all of which were reported to the police.
Mark Batey, Chief Executive, Film Distributors’ Association, said: “With a bumper summer line-up full of exciting new releases to experience at the cinema, raising awareness of digital film theft, and empowering cinema staff, is a key priority to ensure the UK remains the most safe and secure environment in which to release movies. On behalf of UK distributors we would like to thank all of the awardees for their continued vigilance and commitment which has helped to safeguard so many great films.”
Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, added: “Illegal recording is still the source of more than 90pc of all pirated films and so our Fight Film Theft programme with the FDA, is essential to protecting new releases and preventing criminal activity. Our creative industries now account for more than 1.8 million jobs and by supporting cinema staff to identify and take action on those stealing creative content, we not only are protecting the picture on the big screen, but the hundreds of people working behind it to put it there.”
