Peers urge legal action over piracy of cinema films

A committee of peers has called for the use of camcorders in cinemas to be outlawed.

The Lords Communications Committee, which supports the Government’s efforts to combat illegal file sharing, which have been outlined in the Digital Economy Bill, said the UK had to do more to protect its film industry.

In its report, The British film and television industries, the committee said legislation should be introduced, which would make it a criminal offence to record a film on a camcorder in a cinema.

Lord Fowler, the committee chairman said: "British films are a major industry with more potential to expand. One of the greatest concerns put to us was the issue of piracy - part of which is dealt with in the Digital Economy Bill now before the Lords.

"The glaring omission is camcorder crime when new films are recorded at the cinema by camcorder, and then sold as DVDs.

"There is no legitimate issue of freedom here. It is theft which ultimately does great damage to the industry and those working in it. We believe that we should follow the example of most other countries in Europe and make it a criminal offence."

The committee, which took evidence from the British film and television industry, also put forward proposals to part privatise BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and to grant bigger tax breaks for the UK film industry.