Warner Bros. bans advance screenings in Canada

Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 12:21 PM

Bosses at movie giants Warner Bros. have banned all advance screenings of its films in Canada, claiming piracy is rife in the country.

The studio's forthcoming releases 'Ocean's 13', 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' will not be shown north of the US border ahead of their release after Warner executives decided copyright laws in Canada fail to sufficiently protect films from being illegally copied.

They claim 70% of Warners' releases in the last 18 months have been pirated in Canada.

At present, it is not a criminal offence in the country to record movies in theatres for personal use.

Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros senior vice president of anti-piracy operations says, "Canada does have the highest camcording rate (by individuals in theatres) of any other territory.

"This is eliminating one of the avenues of leaks that we have already identified."

Last year, 20th Century Fox threatened to delay the release of its films in Canada in a bid to combat piracy.