Netflix Joins MPAA As Its First Streaming Member

Netflix is now a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), joining several content producers in support of the advocacy group. The move comes nearly two years after Netflix helped form the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), an anti-piracy collective that includes NBCUniversal, CBS, HBO, MGM, and a number of other notable production companies.

Netflix has officially become the MPAA's first streaming partner, joining six major film studios: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corp, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp, Warner Bros Entertainment, and Universal City Studios LLC.

Talking about its new membership is Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, who said:

Joining the Motion Picture Association further exemplifies our commitment to ensuring the vibrancy of these creative industries and the many talented people who work in them all over the world. We look forward to supporting the association team and their important efforts.

The Motion Picture Association of America is an advocacy group best known for its anti-piracy efforts, particularly its targeting of peer-to-peer movie file sharing. The organization has been controversial among the public due to some of its past lobbying efforts, including its criticism of technologies like VCRs and, more recently, its push against DVD decryption software and certain streaming sites.

Netflix has heavily focused on its own original content, further underscoring its legitimacy as a content creator with the purchase of its first production studio complex late last year. Numerous reports over the past couple years have indicated that Netflix may purchase its own physical theaters, and the company has expressed interest in theater film premieres in the past.