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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a non-profit trade association formed to advance the interests of movie studios. Its members consist of seven major studios: the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. The organization produces the well-known voluntary film rating system.
The MPAA has been heavily criticized by some civil libertarians and Internet activists for its strong stance against copyright infringements and its support for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The MPAA has sought to protect its members' interests by political lobbying for changes in copyright and criminal law. It seeks to promote digital rights management technologies, which are seen by some as infringing users' rights, and a potential threat to freedom in the electronic domain.
Dan Glickman replaced the long-serving Jack Valenti as president of the MPAA on September 1, 2004. Valenti, who turned 82 years old in 2003, announced his retirement at the Showest motion picture convention in Las Vegas in March 2003. A noted lobbyist in Washington, DC, he began serving as president in 1966, and has become nearly synonymous with the organization.
See: National Association of Theatre Owners
Opposition to video recorders
When film recording devices first came onto the market, the MPAA was among those who opposed the devices, fearing they would cut into movie sales. In a 1982 testimony before the House of Representatives, MPAA president Jack Valenti stated: "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." [1] (http://cryptome.org/hrcw-hear.htm). In Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios (1984), the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that production of video recorders is legal, because they have substantial potential for non-infringing use.
Related topics
- RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America
- DeCSS
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