The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is the not-for-profit international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of the $32 billion home entertainment

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. The Mission of EMA is to promote, to protect, and to provide a forum for, the common business interests of those engaged in the sale, rental, and licensed reproduction of entertainment software, such as motion pictures, video games, and sound recordings.

History

The Entertainment Merchants Association was established in 2006 through the merger of the

Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) was a United States-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving the business interests of leading retailers that sell Interactive entertainment software (including video games, multi ...

(IEMA) and the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA). VSDA was organized in 1981 to help video retail stores fight against federal legislation that would have changed the

first-sale doctrine The first-sale doctrine (also sometimes referred to as the "right of first sale" or the "first sale rule") is an American legal concept that limits the rights of an intellectual property owner to control resale of products embodying its intellec ...

. VSDA was initiated under the auspices of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers), and was headed by Association staff President Risa Solomon. On January 17, 2020, the Entertainment Merchants Association became OTT.X.

Composition

EMA represents more than 1,000 companies throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and other nations. Its members operate more than 20,000

retail outlets Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

in the U.S. that sell and/or rent

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and computer and console

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

. Membership comprises the full spectrum of retailers (from single-store specialists to multi-line mass merchants), distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent

motion picture studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

s, video game publishers, and other related businesses that constitute and support the home entertainment industry.

Legal activity

References

External links

* Arts and media trade groups Entertainment industry associations {{business-org-stub