Firm Says MPAA Hurt Reputation

A City of Industry company Tuesday said the Motion Picture Assn. of America damaged its reputation when it announced this week that the company had been shut down after authorities uncovered pirated DVDs and equipment valued at $30 million.

In a statement, New Century Media denied that it was involved in illegal activity and said it ran a legitimate 16-year-old operation that made DVDs for such established firms as Genius Products Inc.

New Century Media said the MPAA failed in a news release this week to note that the company reopened immediately after a June 15 raid by the Southern California High Tech Task Force, a group of federal and state agencies.

In a new statement clarifying its original announcement, the MPAA said it understood that New Century Media had since reopened and remained in business.

New Century Media also took issue with the $30-million value assigned by the movie association to the materials removed from the company’s plant by authorities.

The company said $10,540 in DVDs and $15,000 of DVD-making equipment were seized. Included, the company said, were 2,244 sets of a six-DVD “Romance” collection from Genius Products.

The MPAA in its new statement did not retract the $30-million figure but explained that it came up with the number by estimating the value of the DVDs seized during the raid as well as the value of DVDs that could be produced using the equipment.

No arrests have been made.