MPA-Canada Welcomes Federal Court Ruling That Strengthens Site Blocking Against Evolving Piracy Threats
TORONTO – The Motion Picture Association – Canada today issued the following statement welcoming a ruling from the Federal Court of Canada that streamlines the enforcement of site-blocking orders against court adjudicated piracy services that evade judicial oversight by migrating to new domains or rebranding.
“This order, built on a years-long track record of safe, responsible, and effective prior rulings, affirms what we’ve long believed: judicial site blocking is a vital tool for protecting creators and consumers from the dangers of digital piracy. The Federal Court’s balanced, evidence-based, and proportionate decision recognizes that enforcement tools must adapt in response to automated tools used by bad actors. This welcome decision enables swifter, more scalable action against piracy sites while preserving appropriate safeguards for free expression and supporting a safe and well functioning internet.”
– Michele Austin, President and Managing Director of MPA-Canada
The court’s omnibus order represents a meaningful step forward in the fight against digital piracy at a moment when the online piracy ecosystem is becoming faster and more automated. Piracy operators routinely generate domains, spin up copycat websites, and build evasive infrastructure at scale. When a domain is blocked or a brand disrupted, operators frequently resurface under new names within hours, a pattern of “domain hopping” that forces rightsholders and courts into costly, repetitive enforcement cycles. The omnibus order directly addresses this reality by creating a more agile mechanism for extending existing blocks to successor domains and services, without requiring a full return to court each time.
The Federal Court’s decision can be found here.
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About The Motion Picture Association – Canada
The Motion Picture Association – Canada (MPA-Canada) is the voice and advocate of the major international producers and distributors of movies, television and streaming programming in Canada and is an affiliate of the Motion Picture Association, Inc. (MPA).
Through the production of long-running television series, feature films, and world-class post-production, visual effects, and animation projects, the global studios we serve – including Disney, Netflix, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Discovery (“MPA Studios”) – make substantial investments in Canada. These services provide a wide range of entertainment choices to Canadians through a variety of services offering subscription video-on-demand, ad-supported video-on-demand, hybrid services offering both, and free ad-supported television.
On behalf of the MPA Studios, we work with governments and local industry partners to support initiatives that strengthen the film, television and streaming industry in Canada. Charles Rivkin is the Chairman and CEO of the MPA and Michele Austin is the President and Managing Director of MPA-Canada
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