Study: Film industry beefing up lobbying

The film lobby has been dramatically beefing up its presence in Washington by giving millions of dollars to lobbyists and nonprofit political groups, according to a Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) report.

CREW found that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) increased its spending on nonprofit political groups by more than 2,000 percent between 2009 and 2012. Some of the groups benefiting from the contributions are the same ones that the film lobby joined with in a failed 2012 push to get anti-piracy bills passed in Washington. “In the past, the MPAA relied on glamour and private screenings to influence Congress. No longer. Now it is all about money and connections,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said. Since the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), the MPAA has hired the former chief counsel on the House Commerce Committee, Neil Fried, to lead its lobbying team. It hired two more lobbyists: former staffers for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep John Conyers (D-MI) on the House Judiciary Committee.