Viacom Hires Top MPAA Lawyer for Anti Piracy Fight

By Jason Beahm on February 24, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Viacom is bringing in a new general for reinforcements in its ongoing anti piracy fight. The company hired Daniel Mandil, who was the Motion Pictures Association of America's top antipiracy executive. Mandil had played a major role in helping the MPAA fight movie piracy and counterfeiting worldwide, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

According to a source with connections to the MPAA, Mandil was not pushed out and the "organization is sad to see him go," Thewrap.com reports. Prior to joining the MPAA Mandil held a top legal position at Sony BMG. Before that, Mandil and was a partner at Covington & Burling. Representatives for the Motion Picture Association of America, as well as Viacom have yet to comment on the move.

Mandil will now oversee Viacom's worldwide anti piracy litigation efforts. According to sources, Mandil will start at the Viacom headquarters in New York effective April 1, 2011. Movie piracy is serious business for the MPAA and companies like Viacom. However, many question whether the anti piracy efforts have had a discernable effect. The movie industry lost 6.1 billion due to piracy, according to a study in 2005, which was 75% higher than they expected.

Whether you do in-house work in the movie industry or elsewhere, 2011 looks to be a busy year with a lot of government and in-house attorneys making major moves. Due to the recession and slow recovery, there is a lot of great talent available that is ready to make a move for the right job. Opportunities certainly exist to make the jump to another organization after one develops legal expertise in a useful area for a business.

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