Could this be a real turning point in the war against piracy? [Archive]

softball

05-27-2010, 09:07 PM

Its gotta come someday. It is cutting deeply into independent film profits and the quality of films lately has been dropping. I just got this from my union today...who are also heavily involved in this battle....sorry about the smileys...I have no idea where they came from.

<link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/Users/graham/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><style> </style>Hollywood Reporter: <o>:p></o>:p>
'Hurt Locker' producers about to sue an army of pirates <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
The war against movie piracy is getting downright explosive. We've learned that the producers <o>:p></o>:p>
of the Oscar-winning "The Hurt Locker" are preparing a massive lawsuit against thousands of <o>:p></o>:p>
individuals who pirated the film online. The case could be filed as soon as tomorrow. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
Voltage Pictures, the banner behind the best picture winner, has signed up with the U.S. <o>:p></o>:p>
Copyright Group, the Washington D.C.-based venture that, as we first reported in March, has <o>:p></o>:p>
begun a litigation campaign targeting tens of thousands of BitTorrent users. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
According to Thomas Dunlap, a lawyer at the firm, the multi-million dollar copyright infringement <o>:p></o>:p>
lawsuit should be filed this week. He declines to say exactly how many individuals will be <o>:p></o>:p>
targeted, but expect the number to be in the tens of thousands, if not more. "Locker" first leaked <o>:p></o>:p>
onto the web more than five months before its U.S. release and was a hot item in P2P circles <o>:p></o>:p>
after it won six Oscars in March. Despite the accolades, the film grossed only about $16 million <o>:p></o>:p>
in the U.S. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
The U.S. Copyright Group has already filed lawsuits over about 10 other films, including Uwe <o>:p></o>:p>
Boll's "Far Cry," "Call of the Wild 3D" and "Uncross the Stars." Reports of those suits raised <o>:p></o>:p>
alarms in some circles, whereas others joked that the movie industry was merely suing those <o>:p></o>:p>
with poor taste. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
"You can guess that relative to the films we've pursued already, the order of magnitude is much <o>:p></o>:p>
higher" with "Hurt Locker," says Dunlap, adding that the lawsuit will also cover other Voltage <o>:p></o>:p>
pictures such as "Personal Effects," starring Ashton Kutcher. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
If the addition of "Locker" to this litigation campaign could shake things up, so too could news <o>:p></o>:p>
about cooperation by ISPs in this escalating fight. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
After filing the lawsuits, the plaintiffs must subpoena ISP records in an effort to match IP <o>:p></o>:p>
addresses with illicit behavior on BitTorrent. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
According to lawyers at Dunlap's firm, 75 percent of ISPs have cooperated fully. Those that <o>:p></o>:p>
have resisted are mostly doing so, they say, because of the amount of work involved in handing <o>:p></o>:p>
over thousands of names. But the clock may be ticking. For example, in the lawsuit over "Far <o>:p></o>:p>
Cry," Comcast has until next Wednesday to file motions to quash subpoenas. (Here's the <o>:p></o>:p>
stipulation by the parties.) By the end of next week, thousands of Comcast subscribers could <o>:p></o>:p>
be turned over. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
Of the some 50,000 individuals who have been sued thus far, only three have tried to quash the <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
subpoena. In one instance, a Georgia man tried to invoke the state's shield law protecting <o>:p></o>:p>
journalists from having to disclose their sources. The judge denied the motion. In another <o>:p></o>:p>
instance, a woman successfully got a court to throw out the subpoena because her IP address <o>:p></o>:p>
wasn't listed in the original complaint. Unfortunately for her, the complaint was then amended. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
After unmasking individuals who have illegally downloaded films, the U.S. Copyright Group then <o>:p></o>:p>
sends a settlement offer. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
Lawyers at the firm are seeing some returns on the first two lawsuits filed back in January. <o>:p></o>:p>
About 40 percent have settled, according to the U.S. Copyright Group. Those who haven't <o>:p></o>:p>
settled will be sent another round of settlement offers, and the group promises to eventually <o>:p></o>:p>
serve lawsuits on these individuals. <o>:p></o>:p>
<o>:p></o>:p>
Since we first broke news about the litigation campaign, Dunlap says he's been besieged by e-<o>:p></o>:p>
mails from 20 to 30 independent film groups that have expressed frustration about rampant <o>:p></o>:p>
piracy and interest in joining up. The firm plans to send people to this month's Festival de <o>:p></o>:p>
Cannes, where they've already arranged meetings with a number of other film producers to <o>:p></o>:p>
discuss further lawsuits.

pornlaw

05-27-2010, 09:52 PM

There's something wrong with the story... you dont subpoena defendants - you serve them with the complaint and summons to appear.

2muchmark2

05-28-2010, 08:32 AM

I personally hope that the film industry sues and wins against everyone they can. It amazes me how much piracy is going on, and even worse, the general carefree attitude of most people, and the pure lack of any interest whatsoever in the quality of the content and appreciation of film as an art.

2 friends in particular, Trevor and Robert. Trevor just the other day told me that he downloads movies all the time for free. When I told him that what he was doing was illegal, he insisted that it wasn't. His actual response was "Why should I pay to watch a movie on my computer? ". The idea that he obtained a free copy of a movie cost millions to produce way ahead of the owners planned release date did not even phase him as possibly wrong.

Robert on the other hand loves buying cheap DVD's when he visits China town. The movies are mostly made by people who point video cameras at the movie screen but in his mind and therefore look and sound like hell. However, he doesn't care. He's the first on his block to get these movies. The Jones now have to keep up with him. He's got the biggest cock in the neighbourhood. Sigh.

Both of these "friends" are more than happy to enjoy stolen content like Avatar and are completely convinced that there is nothing at all wrong with what they are doing.

I also have to point out that they both claim to be "Real" movie fans, yet have no problem with over compressed images of pirate downloads or the partially obscured images of shaky-cam recordings off of a movie screen. Robert actually complained about that. "I'm never buying from that vendor again. This is a rip off!". Yes, he actually said that.

Even though I have a nice setup at home, I am happy to spend $15 to watch a movie in a theatre. I love GOING to the movies and really enjoy the image detail on big screens and sound detail of movie houses. It's easy to dismiss movies you don't like, but I for one appreciate the art of movie making, even Michael Bay movies... ..ok, especially Michael Bay movies. (Yes yes I know, shut up.. Transformers 1 was great. The Island was great too. Transformers II sucked but everyone knows that. Still glad I saw it in Imax though.) :)

softball

05-28-2010, 11:58 AM

Even though I have a nice setup at home, I am happy to spend $15 to watch a movie in a theatre. I love GOING to the movies and really enjoy the image detail on big screens and sound detail of movie houses. It's easy to dismiss movies you don't like, but I for one appreciate the art of movie making, even Michael Bay movies... ..ok, especially Michael Bay movies.

And they still can't pirate fresh buttered popcorn....

softball

06-01-2010, 12:51 AM

You have to google
hurt locker lawsuit
The momentum is growing. Please post your favorite quotes....

miz_wright

06-01-2010, 10:50 AM

I personally hope that the film industry sues and wins against everyone they can. It amazes me how much piracy is going on, and even worse, the general carefree attitude of most people, and the pure lack of any interest whatsoever in the quality of the content and appreciation of film as an art.

2 friends in particular, Trevor and Robert. Trevor just the other day told me that he downloads movies all the time for free. When I told him that what he was doing was illegal, he insisted that it wasn't. His actual response was "Why should I pay to watch a movie on my computer? ". The idea that he obtained a free copy of a movie cost millions to produce way ahead of the owners planned release date did not even phase him as possibly wrong.

Robert on the other hand loves buying cheap DVD's when he visits China town. The movies are mostly made by people who point video cameras at the movie screen but in his mind and therefore look and sound like hell. However, he doesn't care. He's the first on his block to get these movies. The Jones now have to keep up with him. He's got the biggest cock in the neighbourhood. Sigh.

Both of these "friends" are more than happy to enjoy stolen content like Avatar and are completely convinced that there is nothing at all wrong with what they are doing.

I also have to point out that they both claim to be "Real" movie fans, yet have no problem with over compressed images of pirate downloads or the partially obscured images of shaky-cam recordings off of a movie screen. Robert actually complained about that. "I'm never buying from that vendor again. This is a rip off!". Yes, he actually said that.

Even though I have a nice setup at home, I am happy to spend $15 to watch a movie in a theatre. I love GOING to the movies and really enjoy the image detail on big screens and sound detail of movie houses. It's easy to dismiss movies you don't like, but I for one appreciate the art of movie making, even Michael Bay movies... ..ok, especially Michael Bay movies. (Yes yes I know, shut up.. Transformers 1 was great. The Island was great too. Transformers II sucked but everyone knows that. Still glad I saw it in Imax though.) :)

My partner and I go to the movies a few times a month - a lot of our friends don't understand why we spend the money.

What kills me is the number of people in our industry who will bitch about seeing their content on a tube... but download music. Or bragged out seeing [Hollywood Movie X] weeks before it hits the multiplex. It's all the same problem, but that's what so often gets missed - we latched on to Napster, but don't want people to make the jump from one medium to the other.

TheEnforcer

06-01-2010, 03:07 PM

It'll be interesting to see play out. Personally I don't think it will make much difference.