Earlier this month, political leaders, studio executives, and prominent filmmakers gathered in the south of France for a high-level, one-day event hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. The inaugural Lumière Summit brought together key decision-makers from across the global film industry to discuss the future of cinema, international collaboration, and regulatory challenges. The gathering ultimately concluded with the signing of several thematic declarations, including a prominent pact focused on international cooperation against digital piracy.
The event featured panel discussions designed to map out strategies for protecting intellectual property in an increasingly digital world. However, the tone of the proceedings shifted dramatically during a session dedicated to the industry’s ongoing "race against piracy." Motion Picture Association (MPA) CEO Charles Rivkin was originally scheduled to deliver a keynote address, but a delayed presidential meeting prevented him from taking the stage on time. While MPA EMEA President Emilie Anthonis stepped in briefly to cover, the session was quickly dominated by frank remarks from a government minister who challenged the prevailing industry narrative.
Gayton McKenzie, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, shared the stage with high-ranking international officials, including the chair of the French audiovisual regulator ARCOM and a deputy director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). While these officials outlined their respective anti-piracy track records and enforcement milestones, Minister McKenzie made it clear that while he agreed piracy is fundamentally harmful, he took profound issue with almost every other aspect of the industry’s approach.
"We need to define what is piracy," McKenzie told the audience during the panel discussion. He argued that there is a distinct failure among the authorities and organizations tasked with combating copyright infringement to establish a definitive, universally applicable definition. From there, the minister elaborated on what he perceived as a glaring double standard within the upper echelons of the global entertainment business.
To illustrate his point, McKenzie drew upon an example from earlier that very same day at the summit. During a preceding panel, a filmmaker had addressed the audience and openly discussed how his films were officially banned by censors in Egypt, yet remained widely accessible to local audiences thanks to unauthorized online distribution and local piracy networks. According to McKenzie, the filmmaker expressed satisfaction that people in his home region could still view his work despite state-imposed blocks—a remark that was immediately met with warm applause from the crowd of industry professionals.
McKenzie provided a second example involving a Canadian production centered on a gay hockey player—reportedly the series Heated Rivalry—which he noted is currently being widely pirated in countries where its distribution is heavily restricted or banned outright. Observing the reactions of those in the room, McKenzie pointed out that despite the legal infractions involved, "everybody in the industry is clapping" when piracy serves as a workaround for government censorship.
Drawing upon his own personal history, the South African minister recalled the dark days of his country’s apartheid regime, during which numerous artistic works and political films were strictly prohibited from legal distribution. For citizens living under censorship, unauthorized duplication and distribution served as the only viable lifeline to outside perspectives and independent culture.
When dealing with banned content, political repression, and institutional censorship, McKenzie argued, the entertainment industry conveniently views piracy through a romanticized, sympathetic lens, frequently drawing praise from the very creators whose works are being distributed without authorization. Yet, he emphasized, when economically disadvantaged populations engage in similar copyright infringement out of economic necessity, they are immediately met with aggressive legal repercussions, hefty fines, and criminal prosecution. Characterizing this dichotomy, McKenzie bluntly called the industry’s prevailing philosophy "a bit schizophrenic" and built upon a foundation of "dual standards."
"Egyptians Love Piracy"
The filmmaker to whom Minister McKenzie directly referred was Tarik Saleh, the acclaimed Swedish-Egyptian director behind notable political thrillers such as The Nile Hilton Incident and Cairo Conspiracy. Both films are deeply rooted in the political and social realities of Cairo, yet both have faced official bans within Egypt, effectively barring them from traditional theatrical exhibition in the country where they are set.
During the opening session of the Lumière Summit, Saleh recounted his early struggles with Egyptian authorities, revealing that he was forced to flee the country prior to shooting his very first feature film. "I was going to shoot my first film in Egypt and I was asked to leave. Uh, I’m putting it nicely. I mean, they said, ‘Get the f*ck out of here,’" Saleh told the audience, explaining that he was ultimately forced to relocate his production operations to Morocco.
Despite these hurdles, Saleh acknowledged the ironic role that unauthorized distribution plays in bringing his censored work back to the audiences it was originally created for. With a lighthearted laugh, the director noted that unauthorized streaming and sharing have effectively bypassed state censorship boards. "Here is where piracy comes into the picture in a little reversed way. Egyptians love piracy, which is working very well for me," he remarked.
Notably, Saleh’s comments did not elicit open applause from the crowd in the way McKenzie later described; instead, the panel moderator quickly intervened, suggesting that the regulatory experts on the upcoming afternoon piracy panel could address the director’s remarks if they wished. As it turned out, none of the scheduled panelists brought up the topic during their prepared statements—leaving Minister McKenzie to raise the contradiction himself during the subsequent discussion.
"We’re Not Children"
The second core argument advanced by McKenzie was directed squarely at the regulatory figures seated alongside him on the panel. Earlier in the session, ARCOM chair Martin Ajdari highlighted France’s aggressive enforcement record, noting that the regulatory body had issued more than 22,000 online blocking and delisting injunctions over a five-year period, with roughly 10,000 such orders issued in 2026 alone. Ajdari also reported that the French piracy audience had successfully been cut in half since 2018.
While acknowledging that these domestic enforcement figures were undeniably impressive, McKenzie stressed that localized successes in wealthy Western nations carry limited utility if developing nations are left with little to no resources or support to tackle the issue on their own. He offered a vivid nautical analogy to underscore his point, comparing the global fight against digital piracy to two people sharing a boat that is actively springing leaks.
"We are on the same boat. We both hate piracy," McKenzie stated. "The boat is leaking on our side, and you are praising, like, where we are sitting, we’ve done this."
The South African minister also voiced frustration regarding the historical and ongoing pressure placed on developing countries to comply with strict international intellectual property standards. His remarks followed a presentation by WIPO’s Sylvie Forbin, who outlined several stringent conditions and obligations that accompanied World Trade Organization (WTO) membership during the 1990s. The historical overview appeared to strike a nerve, prompting McKenzie to push back against paternalistic oversight from international bodies.
"Don’t try to punish us like we are children, because we are not children," he asserted, emphasizing the autonomy and sovereignty of developing nations.
South Africa is no stranger to intense international friction over copyright policy and trade requirements. In 2020, prominent U.S. copyright and entertainment industry groups formally petitioned the United States government to review South Africa’s trade preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The lobbying groups objected heavily to broad "fair use" provisions contained within South Africa’s pending copyright legislation, arguing that the proposed exceptions to intellectual property rights were excessively wide and threatened foreign rights holders.
"We Are Not Beggars"
Toward the conclusion of the panel session, Minister McKenzie took pains to clarify that his critical stance on international copyright enforcement frameworks was not a matter of financial desperation. South Africa, he maintained, is fully capable of funding robust anti-piracy initiatives and possesses the economic capacity to invest heavily in enforcement infrastructure on par with nations like Sweden or the United Kingdom. Rather than financial aid, the country’s primary demand is mutual respect and a seat at the table.
"We don’t lack the money. There are countries that lack the money," McKenzie said. "Pero we don’t want to be treated like, ‘Here’s money for you, do one, two, three.’ We want you also to listen to our ideas."
"We are not beggars," he added firmly. "We want a partnership of equals."
Highlighting ongoing domestic efforts, McKenzie noted that the South African government is already actively collaborating with commercial entities such as Canal+ to combat unauthorized broadcasts of live sporting events like football matches. As part of these cooperative measures, anti-piracy awareness warnings are now broadcast prior to the start of every major football match within the country. South Africa remains eager to assist the international community in curbing intellectual property theft, provided that Western institutions are willing to treat the nation as a serious and respected partner rather than a subordinate.
The Lumière Summit ultimately concluded with the formal signing of a declaration aimed at strengthening international cooperation in the ongoing fight against film and audiovisual piracy. However, the agreement remains a voluntary framework without hard legal commitments, and as of the close of the conference, no official representatives from South Africa had signed the text.
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