On a Monday morning in late September, just weeks after the music industry hit hundreds of file-sharing consumers with lawsuits, News Corp. Chairman Peter Chernin held an anti-piracy summit meeting in his executive conference room on the studio lot.
On hand was an impressive array of top Hollywood studio brass, including Viacom Entertainment Group Chairman Jonathan Dolgen, Time Warner Entertainment Group Chairman Jeff Bewkes, Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer, MGM Chairman Alex Yemenidjian and Sony Entertainment Vice Chairman Yair Landau.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday November 12, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Movie piracy -- An article in Sunday's Section A about illegal downloading mistakenly identified 20th Century Fox Group Chairman Peter Chernin as News Corp. chairman, a title held by Rupert Murdoch.
The studio chiefs, along with Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti, listened intently as Universal Music President Zach Horowitz, a chief architect of the record industry's anti-piracy strategy, gave a report from the battlefront. Horowitz said a stream of TV reports and front-page stories about the lawsuits, in addition to various educational efforts, seemed to have slowed the pace of illegal downloading.
But Horowitz offered a blunt prediction: In a year, the outlaw file-sharing services that have helped send record company profits spiraling down would be crowded with movies and TV shows. If you're going to file lawsuits, he advised, do it right away before millions of people online are sharing movies and TV shows for free.
Not everyone thought it was time to sue. Valenti launched into one of his signature orations, lobbying the moguls to continue exploring more advanced technological copy protection. When Valenti concluded, according to several people in the room, Chernin told the MPAA chief, "Jack, I totally disagree with you." Chernin urged the studio chiefs to follow the lead of the music companies and move ahead with lawsuits.
When the Fox chief called for a raised-hand vote, it was unanimous. While no one will confirm a specific timetable, the studios have instructed Valenti to begin preparations for lawsuits aimed at avid file sharers, be they junior high schoolers, computer-savvy techno geeks or grandmothers.
If there was any doubt how seriously these entertainment behemoths view the threat of piracy, it came into focus near the end of the meeting. According to several parties in the room, Dolgen, exasperated by the lengthy debate, spoke up, saying, "It sounds like all we're doing here is arguing over the size of the coffin."
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