Dan Glickman, the president of the Motion Picture Association of
America, will be listening to student concerns about movie piracy
at 7 tonight in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. The question-and-answer
session will take place before the screening of “March of the
Penguins,” put on by the Campus Events Commission.
Glickman’s stop at UCLA is part of the MPAA’s
nationwide tour of colleges to educate, rather than legally fight,
students on the subject of film piracy.
“It’s part of my desire to hear what young people
are saying and look for ways to make piracy less attractive and
less interesting.” Glickman said. “A lot of students
know that when they download illegally they’re breaking the
law. (But) a lot people don’t see that intellectual property
is property like their car or a desk or a physical piece of art.
Intellectual property is in fact property worthy of
protection.”
Campus Events is putting on this discussion in hopes of
providing students with a chance to talk to someone who has the
ability to make a difference in the way they see movies.
“This is not going to be a lecture where he shakes his
finger and says piracy is bad,” said Jason Kaminsky, Campus
Events commissioner. “It is an intellectual discussion with
the one who in the end is making decisions. It is a forum for
student interaction with policy makers. It’s an opportunity
that should be seized.”
While students may see Glickman as the man with the ability to
sue downloaders, Kaminsky hopes that they welcome him
nonetheless.
“It’s not a forum to complain, but it’s a
forum to address your concerns,” he said. “This is the
guy that really matters.”
While the Recording Industry Association of America has sued
UCLA students, the MPAA has yet to file any lawsuits against UCLA
or its students.
James Davis, the UCLA associate vice chancellor of information
technology, said the school has received notifications that illegal
file sharing of films is occurring on campus.
“There is a distinction between a lawsuit and a
notification of alleged copyright infringement,” Davis said.
“We have been monitoring (the number of notifications)
closely since 2003 and they have been steadily dropping. It started
out heavily oriented toward music, but more recently we are seeing
the percentage of movies increasing.”
The MPAA is looking for legal digital downloading alternatives
that are both easy to use and relatively inexpensive, similar to
the function of iTunes for the music industry.
But Glickman may face students unwilling to accept his
viewpoint, as some students do not see their practice of illegal
downloading as wrong.
“If the industry wants people to pay the price they are
charging for their films, they need to make them of higher
quality,” said Terry Colberg, a third-year history student.
“I pay money for the movies that I see deserve it. I
don’t have moral issues downloading crap.”
The Campus Events Commission hopes students with similar
opinions take the opportunity to speak with someone who has the
power to make a difference on this subject.
“It is a chance to find out why litigation is necessary,
what else (the MPAA) are doing and how piracy is affecting the
movies that they love,” Kaminsky said.