LOS ANGELES : The US movie and the music industries have published a guide to help companies prevent copyright abuse on their computers and plan to distribute it to Fortune 1000 companies.
 

"A Corporate Policy Guide to Copyright Use and Security on the Internet," requests that companies take steps to ensure their computer and Internet systems are not being utilised for film and music piracy.

The groups - the Recording Industry Association of America and The Motion Picture Association of America, represent the film and music arms of the world's biggest media conglomerates, including Bertelsmann AG , EMI Group, AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal, Sony, News Corp. and Walt Disney.

A Reuters report indicates that the movie and music industries have been aggressive in pursuing copyright infringement litigation against renegade services like Napster.

The groups said they issued the guide to raise awareness at the corporate level of illegal activities that may be taking place on company networks. The guide requests that companies advise employees against copyright abuse on computer systems in the workplace and warned that such unauthorized copying is illegal, can tarnish corporate reputations and increase security risks for computer systems and put organisations at risk of legal liability.

The International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the trade body for the record industry worldwide, drafted the brochure for top European companies and is spearheading the effort overseas.