Edinburgh Film Festival managingdirector Ginnie Atkinson reacted swiftly to weekend press reports thatthis year's event might be damaged by a boycott from three major Hollywoodstudios.

Articles suggested thatDisney, Universal and 20th Century Fox would boycott the event in protest atthe city's poor record on combating piracy.

An Edinburgh market atIngliston is notorious for selling pirate copies of recent blockbusters and issaid to deprive studios of some £10 million a year in lost revenue.

Senior executives from thethree studios will meet representatives from Edinburgh council andFACT(Federation Against Copyright Theft) next month to resolve the dispute.

Simon Hewlett, Fox's UKmanaging director told The Sunday Times: "Councils in certain areas are sitting idleand not working on behalf of local businesses and that's true of Edinburgh.It's going on in front of them but there' a reluctance to do anything aboutit."

He added: "The councilcannot ignore the people who put them there and if it gets to the point where acouncil is literally sticking two fingers up to us, we will have to considerour options. We are big supporters of the Festival and other film-relatedenterprises, but why on earth should we make that kind of commitment if they'renot prepared to support us."

Edinburgh rarely securesworld premiere screenings and seldom showcases the kind of blockbusters thatfuel the piracy business which make it a strange target for action.

This year's opening nightpresentation is The Motorcycle Diaries, a Sundance favourite six monthsago.

According to GinnieAtkinson: "This article is very hypothetical and I'm sure the issue will beresolved satisfactorily next month. I don't anticipate it affecting theFestival this year or in the future. This year's programme is already fixed andwill be announced as previously planned in July."