Motion Picture Association of America

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"MPAA" redirects here. For the television show, see My Parents are Aliens.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), originally called the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, is a non-profit trade association based in the United States which was formed to advance the interests of movie studios. Its members consist of the "big six" major Hollywood studios: Buena Vista (The Walt Disney Company), Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures (Viacom -- which bought DreamWorks in February 2006), 20th Century Fox (News Corporation), Universal Studios (NBC Universal), and Warner Bros. (Time Warner). The organization produces the well-known voluntary film rating system.

1 Purpose
2 Leadership
3 Controversies
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Purpose

Besides assigning its aforementioned film ratings, the MPAA's mission is to protect member interests through political lobbying for changes in copyright and criminal law. It seeks to promote digital rights management technologies, seen by some as infringing on user rights and others as balancing user rights with artist protection. The motion-picture equivalent of the RIAA, the MPAA has taken strong steps to reduce the number of file-sharing sites online where copyrighted films are available for download. In April and May of 2005, signs appeared on the homepages of LokiTorrent and EliteTorrents (two large BitTorrent trackers), stating that they had been closed down because of encouraging the illegal distribution of copyrighted material.

[edit] Leadership

In 1922, the movie studio bosses hired Will H. Hays to be the first president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. A former U.S. Postmaster General and election campaign manager for U.S. President Warren G. Harding, Hays was responsible for the creation of the Production Code in 1930. Enforcement of the Code was lax until the major studios agreed -- under threat of religious groups to push for stronger state and federal censorship -- that all films released on or after 1 July 1934 would adhere to the Code or face a fine.

In 1934, Joseph I. Breen (1888-1965) took over as head of the Production Code Administration (PCA) and served until retiring in 1945 when Eric Johnston took over and the name was changed to the Motion Picture Association of America. In November of 1947, Johnston was part of a closed-door meeting with forty-seven motion picture executives at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. As a result, on 25 November 1947, Johnston issued the Waldorf Statement, a two-page press release that marked the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist. Johnston remained in office as head of the MPAA until his death in 1963. Ralph Hetzel acted as interim head until 1966.

From 1966 to 2004, Jack Valenti served as the president of the group, becoming nearly synonymous with the organization thanks to his long service and high profile. On September 1, 2004, he retired at the age of 82. He was succeeded by Dan Glickman, a former Agriculture Secretary during the Clinton administration.

Kori Bernards is the MPAA's vice president of corporate communications and the lead spokesperson in the current battle with the BitTorrent technology invented by Bram Cohen.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Rating system

Main article: Motion Picture Association of America film rating system

Some of the MPAA's actions have been controversial. One example is the film rating system. Many believe that the intent of the various ratings has been subverted. For example, there is widespread access to R-rated movies even for those under 17, while the NC-17 rating spells commercial death for a film, undermining its purpose. Film critic Roger Ebert has called for an entirely new system of ratings designed to address these issues. Some people criticize film-makers for editing their works to conform to the various ratings. For example, they might excise some extreme violence or sex to avoid an NC-17, or even "spice up" a children's movie so as to move from G to PG and appeal to older children. The ratings system itself is attacked as de-facto censorship by free-speech activists, and conversely as too lenient in its content standards by some conservative critics.

[edit] Copyright issues

Other critics attack the MPAA for its action on copyright issues. They claim that it inhibits legitimate uses of its products through laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and that it is too draconian in pursuing copyright infringers. The MPAA replies that it is only attempting to limit losses from file sharing and other technology, although many valid arguments exist to make its moves highly controversial. In 2006, the MPAA's moral authority on this subject was questioned. Filmmaker Kirby Dick's documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, itself an attack on the ratings system, was submitted for rating consideration. It was alleged that the organization then made unauthorized copies of it.

The MPAA was responsible for a police raid on the servers that hosted a Torrent Tracking website called The Pirate Bay on May 31st 2006 by pressuring the Swedish government (where the servers were located) to take action. The Pirate Bay, in response, claims that they have no basis for the seizure, and were back up and running on backups two days later.

[edit] Monopoly

Since the MPAA members are the motion picture industry's most powerful studios, representing some of the world's largest media corporations, allegations of monopoly are often brought up by critics. Critics also point to the MPAA's support for closed standards (DRM, Formats, etc.) that hinder competition. Other critics have suggested that films released by major studios (members of the MPAA) are given more deference in terms of ratings than films released by independents.<ref>"This Film Is Not Yet Rated" (2006).</ref>

However, supporters respond that the MPAA works like any trade association to further its industry, and does not inhibit strong competition among its members.^{[citation needed]}