Entertainment Retail Trade Associations Join ForcesPosted on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 @ 04:22:22 pm E.S.T
Five leading trade organizations representing companies that provide movies, music and video games to consumers have formed the Coalition of Entertainment Retail Trade Associations (CERTA). The group plans to speak out regularly about common concerns and explore potential collaborations, focusing first on public policy matters.
CERTA members - the Digital Media Association (DiMA), Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA), National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), and Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), represent more than 3,000 entertainment retailers and exhibitors who operate more than 50,000 movie theaters, home video and music stores, video game stores, online music sites, and other retail entertainment establishments.
"We first met after participating in a Federal Trade Commission workshop," said NARM Acting President Jim Donio. "It was apparent that we could maximize our influence on common issues by combining our voices."
Added Jonathan Potter, DiMA's Executive Director, "Our organizations' members are the bridges between producers and consumers, so our policy interests are often aligned on issues of consumer education, consumer behavior, and marketplace innovation."
"CERTA's existence has already led to increased cooperation and support between our organizations," stated IEMA President Hal Halpin. "Surely, we look forward to the results of our combined efforts."
An initial CERTA focus is certain to be on entertainment piracy and how to innovatively combat piracy in the marketplace, as well as through enforcement and education.
"Each of our associations faces different industry challenges. But consumer education and consumer behavior are clearly part of the piracy problem and any potential solution," said VSDA President Bo Andersen. "Legislators must understand that CERTA member companies face unfair and unlawful competition from piracy every day," he said.
In addition to piracy, CERTA will also place early emphasis on consumer awareness with regard to entertainment product content ratings and labeling.
"By partnering, we can use our individual industries' resources more efficiently," said John Fithian, President of NATO. "Ultimately that should result in more knowledge of the marketplace, more innovation, and more value for consumers."
For more information about CERTA or any of its members, contact the following:
About DiMA:
In Washington D.C. and globally, the Digital Media Association (DiMA) helps ensure a healthy environment for digital media businesses and their creative and consumer partners. As the trade association for the leading providers of online media, our mission is to support our industry before Congress and policymakers, and to coordinate industry-to-industry activities, licensing negotiations, and promotional efforts.
About IEMA:
Established in 1997, the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) is the non-profit U.S. trade association dedicated to serving the business interests of leading retailers that sell interactive entertainment software (including video and computer games, multimedia entertainment, peripherals and other software). Member companies of the IEMA collectively account for almost ninety percent of the $10.2 billion annual interactive entertainment business in the United States.
About NARM:
Established in 1958, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) is a not-for-profit trade association that serves the music retailing community in the areas of networking, advocacy, information, education and promotion. The Association's membership includes music and other entertainment retailers, wholesalers, distributors, record labels, multimedia suppliers, and suppliers of related products and services, as well as individual professionals and educators in the music business field. Our retail members operate 7,000 storefronts that account for almost 85 percent of the music sold in the $12 billion U.S. music market.
About NATO:
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 26,000 movie screens in all 50 states and additional cinemas in more than 40 countries worldwide. Our membership includes the largest cinema chains in the world and hundreds of independent theatre owners too. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with a second office in North Hollywood, California, NATO represents its members in the heart of the nation's capital, as well as the center of the entertainment industry. From these vantage points, NATO helps exhibition influence federal policy-making and work with movie distributors on all areas of mutual concern, from new technologies, to legislation, marketing and First Amendment issues.
About VSDA:
Established in 1981, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) is the not-for-profit international trade association for the $22 billion home entertainment industry. VSDA represents over 1,200 companies throughout the United States, Canada, and a dozen other countries. Its members operate more than 12,500 retail outlets in the U.S. that sell and/or rent DVDs, VHS cassettes, and console video games. Membership comprises the full spectrum of video retailers (from single-store operators to large chains), video distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent motion picture studios, and other related businesses that constitute and support the home video entertainment industry. Posted By: Adam Paoli - 92 Reads
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