PIRACY GETS TOP BILLING ON VISIT MAYOR TO PRESS FAKE-DVD ISSUE.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

Can Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa save Hollywood?

The Los Angeles mayor, who is leaving for a 14-day trip to Asia this weekend, said Tuesday that rampant DVD piracy, which costs the major movie studios nearly $300 million a year, will be among the topics when he meets Chinese leaders.

``We've got to protect our industry, movies as well as music,'' Villaraigosa said during an interview with Daily News reporters and editors. ``I want to bring home to them just how critical this is to the L.A. economy and how much damage (piracy) is causing.''

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, more than nine out of every 10 DVDs sold in China are fakes or stolen products.

Among those the mayor will meet with is China's minister of culture and trade to discuss piracy so pervasive that there is serious doubt over whether legitimate home-entertainment products can ever grab a foothold with Chinese consumers.

``If you did not see a counterfeit DVD, you were not in China,'' MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said late last year at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on piracy in Beverly Hills. ``Unfortunately, I fear our collective perception of China has become so ingrained with the notion that China is overflowing with pirate DVDs we frequently fail to appreciate the magnitude of the problem.''

Glickman also had said China has few repercussions to deter pirates and has lacked the political will to attempt to stem the problem. Illegal films are readily available on virtually all street corners and packed on the shelves of audio-visual stores in just about every neighborhood.

Villaraigosa will also visit South Korea and Japan. In Japan, the mayor said, he plans to promote Los Angeles as a location to shoot commercials.

Film L.A. Inc. President Steve MacDonald, whose agency handles film permits for Los Angeles and some surrounding areas, will accompany Villaraigosa for the Japanese leg of the trip.

``We're going to help promote Japanese commercial production in L.A. because in the last five, six years or so, it has dropped considerably,'' MacDonald said. ``Just like when film or television comes to the city, commercial production is also a valuable contributor to jobs in the area.''

In addition to movie industry-related issues, the mayor's agenda includes discussing environmental issues and promoting trade, tourism, investment and the fashion industry.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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