The Copyright Act of 1976 was the last comprehensive copyright law revision in the U.S. and brought our law up to the highest international standards. The Act was amended in 1982, substantially increasing the penalties for the illegal duplication of copyrighted material, making such offenses felonies on the first offense. Copyright owners may file civil lawsuits against copyright infringers, and the government may file criminal charges. Violating these statutes carries tough penalties, including incarceration and monetary fines. The Communications Act of 1984 and later amendments provide penalties and remedies for theft of cable TV and satellite services, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 prohibits the circumvention of technical measures used to protect copyrighted works against theft.

In 2005, President Bush signed the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, which makes camcording in a theater a federal felony (camcording in theaters is also prohibited by many state statutes) and establishes new penalties for pirating works that have not yet been released commercially. First-time violators can be sentenced to three and five years, respectively, for these crimes and fined up to $250,000.

MPAA/MPA and its affiliated organizations work to strengthen the copyright laws of our trading partners and improve enforcement when necessary. In addition, intellectual property relations between the U.S. and most foreign countries are governed by an array of multilateral treaties such as the Berne Copyright Convention and the World Trade Organization agreement on Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), as well as bilateral agreements, including a growing number of free trade agreements such as NAFTA.