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About Project: FAIR, brought to you by VSDA

From the independent filmmaker to the largest motion picture studio, from the single-store video retailer to the largest chain, the illegal copying of movies costs the industry billions of dollars every year.

In 2003, more than 50 major movies were illegally copied and disseminated before they were even released to theaters. Viewers of these illegal copies were much less likely to pay for a theater ticket, or to buy or rent the legal DVD or VHS copy. The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that motion picture studios alone lose between $3.5 to $5 billion annually to illegal physical goods. These estimates do not reflect losses from Internet-based reproductions (downloading or “file-trading”). The Video Software Dealers Association (“VSDA”) estimates that the average video store loses $10,000 per year as a result of illegal copying. This is particularly troubling to independent filmmakers, given that the home video market may be the primary source of revenue for films that do not enjoy a wide theatrical release.

VSDA is the not-for-profit international trade association of retailers and distributors of movies in the $24 billion home entertainment industry – the trade association for your local video store. VSDA supports a four-pronged approach against illegal copying: Litigation and prosecution against those who infringe the copyrights, modernizing laws where appropriate to deal with new threats, encouraging copyright owners to allow retailers and distributors greater freedom to compete against illegal channels, and educating the public to the fact that copyright infringement, like theft, is a crime.

As part of the education prong, VSDA is sponsoring an initiative with independent filmmakers and film students to create anti-piracy public service announcements that can be incorporated into the monthly video reels run on TV monitors in video stores, and included along with movie trailers on DVDs and in theaters.

This initiative, entitled Project: FAIR (Filmmakers Against Illegal Replication) invites filmmakers to create public service announcements that speak out against illegal replication affecting the entertainment industry – illegal copying of movies, video games and music – in ways that will resonate with people of all ages, and with teenagers and young adults in particular. VSDA will take submissions between January 1 and May 1, 2006. A panel of celebrity judges will review the submissions and select the winner(s) who will be honored at VSDA’s Home Entertainment 2006, to be held in July in Las Vegas.

Winners will receive prizes and have their submissions played in video stores across the country. Winning submissions will also be circulated to other entertainment trade associations and to the motion picture studios for possible inclusion along with movie trailers on DVDs and VHS cassettes.