In the mid-1980s, a common complaint among studio film distribution executives claimed there were just too many movies. What those moguls meant was that upstart independents, fueled by easy bank lending, junk bonds, and a seemingly bottomless well of home video revenue, were crowding screens with a sudden flush of, say…

Remember when film ratings were supposed to be a matter of life and death? Harvey Weinstein went to war over the letter-grade assigned to movies like Bully, and used the ensuing controversy to sell them. Anti-smoking activists clamored for an R on every cigarette scene. United States Senators deliberated for days over…

Proving that if you pay your dues literally, your pals will show up to have your back, the Motion Picture Association of America and Netflix today warned of “the chilling fear of litigation” as they filed court documents supporting FX and Ryan Murphy in their legal battle with Olivia De Havilland over the Oscar…

After six years as head of the lobbying arm of major Hollywood studios, Christopher Dodd is stepping down as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America.

The organization announced today that the former U.S. senator will exit his position as CEO on September 4 and from his position as chairman at the end of t…

The Office of the United States Trade Representative has released the 2016 Special 301 Report on the global state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement. This is the final such report that will be released during the Obama Administration. The annual review looked at 73 trading partners, placing 34 o…

A New Zealand court has ruled that Megaupload.com co-founder Kim Dotcom and three of the site’s other co-founders are eligible for extradition to the U.S. to stand trial on charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering, effectively bringing Dotcom’s nearly four-year battle to evade U.S…

Online movie and TV pirates are becoming craftier — necessitating a “focused, strategic U.S. policy” — the Motion Picture Association of America says in a filing to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released today. The trade group is helping the USTR to determine its fourth Notorious Markets List…

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New York State has seen a dramatic rise in recent years in film and television production and jobs, says a report released today by the MPAA. Employment in the industry in the state grew by 25% between 2008 and 2011, according to the study (read it here) conducted by HR&A Advisors for the MPAA. The approximately…