(Berlin, 28 July 2004) If you are visiting downtown Munich or Potsdamer Platz Square in Berlin, there’s a good chance you may stumble upon an information stand with adjacent prison cell. The mobile information cell of the “Movie thieves are Criminals” campaign has been on tour in Germany since July 28. By spending five minutes locked up in the mock-up prison cell, visitors can imagine what life is like for convicted movie thief – or they can
merely inform themselves about the problem of copyright theft.



The objective of "Prison on Tour" is to inform people, via direct, personal contact, about the problem of illegal copies of films. Previously informative events have been held in schools to inform teachers and students about the topic, and all e-mails sent to the campaign website were answered personally. “Awareness training is very important to us. That’s why we’re touring Germany’s major cities and taking our message directly to the people on the street, with our informative tour about the subject of copyright theft,” explained Johannes Klingsporn, managing director of the Association of Film Distributors (Verband der Filmverleiher e.V., VdF). “We built the prison cell to catch people’s attention, but it’s also part of the information stand where visitors can pick up a flyer and win tickets to the cinema.”

Raising awareness is just one weapon in the battle against copyright theft. Civil and criminal prosecution of illegal utilisation of film material continues apace, as the semi-annual figures (January through June 2004) released by the German Federation against Copyright Theft (Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzungen e.V., GVU) show. In the first six
months of this year alone, the GVU confiscated more than 260,000 illegal CDs, tapes and DVDs, and filed charges in more than 1,300 new court cases. With the help of experts and detectives from the GVU, the police searched more than 1,000 homes and offices. Altogether, more than 1,100 cases initiated with the assistance of the GVU had been brought to a close by
the end of June. Another step in the right direction, according to Klingsporn: “We have observed that our measures are beginning to take effect. That’s why we will continue our massive efforts to raise awareness on the grassroots level and to prosecute copyright violations.”