Mobiles Banned From Film Premieres

Mobile phones are to be temporarily confiscated during performances at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival in a crackdown on movie piracy.

Guests at many festival screenings, including world and international premieres, will be asked to hand over their phones for the duration of the film.

The extra security, which has been likened to checking a bag or coat before going into the theatre, is to be run by professional agencies who have provided the same service for major premieres in London.

The companies are being hired and paid for by film distributors anxious to keep their best films away from the pirates.

And it is likely that even celebrities such as Elijah Wood and Richard E Grant will be asked to turn over their mobiles like everyone else.

The concerns have been raised because of next-generation mobile phone cameras, which can take film clips of almost three minutes, as well as still pictures.

While they could not be used to pirate an entire film, the devices would allow parts of the latest blockbusters to be shown on-line months before they were due out in cinemas on general release, as well as using movie images for unauthorised purposes.

One of the films which will certainly have the security measures in place will be the world premiere of Kinky Boots, a British comedy about a struggling shoemaker who switches to a saucy niche market to turn a profit.

Distributor Buena Vista International (BVI) has opted to have the "bag and tag" security people to protect the content of the film from mobile phone pirates.

Charlotte Tudor, a spokeswoman for BVI, said: "The industry is very focused on combating piracy and we always try to protect screenings before an American release, as that is where pirates will want to strike. These people are criminals who are undermining the UK and international film industry, so we feel it is right to take these precautions."

Jim Angell, director of operations for the Federation Against Copyright Theft, said: "Mobile phones do not really have the capability to pirate an entire film, but what these companies want to do is protect any of their film getting out before its official release.

"Modern phones can take quite good images or a brief clip of the film which could then be put up on websites or used for promotion without the company's permission."

Festival staff hope that cinemagoers will not mind the inconvenience, instead seeing it as a small price to pay to see the films before anyone else.

And they have organised a special event where a panel of experts will discuss some of the issues surrounding the growing problem of film piracy.

Aimed at youngsters, who are among the biggest buyers of counterfeit DVDs, the talk will focus on why piracy is a crime and what the industry is doing to try to combat the problem.

A celebrity guest speaker is expected to chair the event, which will also feature British director Nick Love, whose latest film The Business is having its world premiere at the festival.

Clea Tammes, programme producer at the Film Festival, said: "Piracy is a crime and a major threat to global cinema and home entertainment, whether it is Hollywood blockbusters or local, low-budget films.

"Piracy affects us all and the Edinburgh International Film Festival has a zero-tolerance policy towards video piracy, and is delighted to be working with the public and the industry towards eliminating this type of crime."

The facts

THE Federation Against Copyright Theft estimates that film piracy costs the UK industry more than £450 million a year and the Motion Picture Association of America claims bootleg DVDs and videos cost the industry £1.7bn a year worldwide.

Last year, the number of pirate DVDs flooding Edinburgh was blamed for a massive decline in Capital cinema audience figures.

Some city cinemas have seen audience figures fall by up to 40 per cent as counterfeiting cartels churn out hits before they even reach the screens.

Story source: scotsman.com.