Hollywood to make over message for DC

Hollywood is casting about for a new script to explain the entertainment industry’s side of the online piracy story to the American public — and lawmakers — in light of the surprise ending dealt the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act in Congress last month.

Industry lobbies and entertainment companies are mulling over new Web-based advocacy campaigns and possibly seeking outside consultants to help them recast the policy debate: They see it as a multibillion-dollar heist of movies, music and the work of artists by Internet bandits. “We can’t throw any old message out there. We need to be smart about it — where we put it, how we say it, who says it,” said one entertainment industry executive. The executive said that lawmakers who supported SOPA and PIPA want “a more robust PR effort from the motion picture industry not only in Washington but outside of Washington to get people to understand why they should care about this issue as consumers.”