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BRUSELLS, MEDIASET PRESENTS "BAARIA"TO MADAME REDING / CONFALONIERI: "DEFEND COPYRIGHT"

BRUSELLS, MEDIASET PRESENTS "BAARIA"TO MADAME REDING
CONFALONIERI: "DEFEND COPYRIGHT"

The chairman of Mediaset Fedele Confalonieri yesterday met a group of representatives of European institutions in Brussels. During the event, at which also the Commissioner for Information, Society & Media Viviane Reding and the  Vice president of Commission for Transport Policy Antonio Tajani were present, Confalonieri outlined the strategy and prospects of the television group, emphasising the important role played in the creation and production of content. "Mediaset invests around half of its advertising income in the production and acquisition of European audiovisual content, ?1,111 million, of which around ?162 million for cinema," the Mediaset chairman underlined. He also estimated that, despite the crisis, investments in the production of Italian cinema were growing and in 2009 would total more than  ?90 million.
The evening was also the occasion for a screening of the film by Giuseppe Tornatore Baarìa. Other guests included the chairman and chief executive of Medusa Carlo Rossella and Giampaolo Letta. "The internet has convinced people that everything is free,"  said Confalonieri, accompanied by Mediaset director Gina Nieri, "but this world without rules seriously undermines our ability to sustain the costs of products such as Baarìa, a great example of Italian creativity." The Mediaset chairman then invited European institutions to recognise the centrality of broadcasters as the principal source of finance for audiovisual production. "We believe in the cinema, but our governors and lawmakers, need to make more strenuous efforts to find rules and solutions to ensure that all media, including the internet, recognise the value and importance of the protection of intellectual property rights and put an end to rampant piracy."

Cologno Monzese, November 20, 2009

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