Two arrests under camcorder law

[VCDHunter]

New western The Alamo was one of the films allegedly recorded
Los Angeles police have made the first arrests under a new law targeting pirates who use camcorders in cinemas.
Ruben Centero Moreno, 34, was arrested after the projectionist used night vision goggles to spot video cameras.

And Min Jae Joun, 28, was arrested on suspicion of recording a screening of The Passion of the Christ on 10 April.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, said he hoped it would "send a clear signal such crimes will not be tolerated".

"In both cases, the LAPD's fine work would not have occurred without the swift actions of the employees of Pacific Theatres," he told the Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Federal authorities estimate the illegal copying of films costs the entertainment industry as much as $3bn (£168m) a year.


The film industry, led by Jack Valenti, has been cracking down on piracy
The MPAA has established a nationwide telephone hotline for cinema employees to report violations. Studios and cinemas are also investing in metal detectors and night-vision goggles.

Mr Moreno was arrested on 12 April after a screening of The Alamo at the Pacific Winnetka Theatre in the Chatsworth area. No hearing date has yet been set.

Mr Joun was arrested after another audience member complained about a red light on a camcorder at the Pacific Theatre at the Grove.

He was released on bail and ordered to appear at a hearing on 5 May. If convicted, both men face up to 12 months in jail.

The California anti-camcorder law, which came into force on 1 January, makes it an offence to take a camcorder into a cinema with the intent of taping a movie.

Similar laws are on the statute books in nine other US states and the District of Columbia.


Russell Sprague pleaded guilty to copyright infringement
The new laws enable local authorities to act on offences that would normally be considered violations of federal copyright law.

The MPAA claims that between May 2002 and May 2003, over 50 major movie titles were "stolen" by camcording before their US cinema release.

MPAA spokesman Matthew Grossman said many illegal recordings were obtained by people who sneaked into advance screenings held for film critics.

The latest arrests follow that of Chicago resident Russell Sprague, who pleaded guilty to copyright infringement earlier this week after being charged of illegally copying movie preview tapes, known as screeners.

The 51-year-old faces up to three years in prison for creating pirate copies of films including Mystic River, Kill Bill Volume I and Seabiscuit.

But his sentencing has been postponed for six months to allow the movie studios to calculate the losses incurred.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3628049.stm

Six months ? Who the hell does their accounts ?!

[BJ_M]

just like software piracy they will come up with a a loss in the millions and millions of dollars ...

[VCDHunter]

The film industry, led by Jack Valenti, has been cracking down on piracy. The MPAA has established a nationwide telephone hotline for cinema employees to report violations. Studios and cinemas are also investing in metal detectors and night-vision goggles.

Metal Detectors ? Night Vision goggles ? There are soldiers in Iraq without this much gear I hope, for entertainment purposes, he was arrested in an SAS style, MP5's with laser sighting, flash bombs, abseiling blokes in ski masks etc.

[The village idiot]

I still find it disturbing that a movie pirate will do more time than a person selling crack to kids in elementary school. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Or maybe the crack dealers need to go away for life.

You can tell how much the projectionist makes by their willingness to turn in the pirates. Around here, there are no projectionists, someone simply splices the reels together, and they start the movie from the counter. If it is out of focus, or the shutter is off, or any other problem, no one notices until one of the customers complains. The same goes for the upkeep of the equipment. More than 75% of the theaters I've been in around heer have damaged speakers or amps, and if they aren't damaged yet, they are so loud that the amps are clipping. Just a perfectly sad statement when you consider the money they rake in.

[MOVIEGEEK]

"Pacific Winnetka Theatre in the Chatsworth area"

I remember when that was a drive-in theater...I had alot of good times there.

[FulciLives]

The biggest and "nicest" theatre near me is a Loews Cineplex that can't be more than maybe 5 years old.

The framing is almost always off with the bottom of the screen almost always being cut of by a large degree.

Almost every movie I have seen there has been like that.

The worst example was when I saw THE EXORCIST ... THE VERSION YOU NEVER SAW ... the image was so cut off along the bottom that the subtitles during the opening prolouge were OFF THE SCREEN ON THE CURTAINS AND UNREADABLE

Thank god I've seen the film enough times that I knew what was going on. I complained afterwards and got a free ticket. Recently I saw a film that had a bad splice in it with approximately a minute of footage missing (this was my second time seeing it so that was how I knew).

Guess what? They offered me a free 20 ounce drink ... not even a free ticket.

I really don't want to go back eventhough the only other theatre worth going too (and much better) is a good 45 to 60 minute drive away from me and it's not that far due to traffic it is really like a good distance away in terms of miles. I guess I should be lucky that traffic in that direction (and back) is not bad hehehe

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Capmaster]

Federal authorities estimate the illegal copying of films costs the entertainment industry as much as $3bn (£168m) a year.

Quick ....where can I buy up a bunch of pounds? Last I checked the pound was worth about $1.78

[hhhhbk]

noone wants the shit recorded in cinema jobs anymore
they are of laughable quality
i got a couple a few years back in cyprus where they dont seem to have piracy laws as there were shops dedicated to bootleg cd dvd vcd etc

they now sit in a stack of discs which includes all misburns in the hope that there is some use for them

i cant see how piracy by recording in a cinema can cost the movie company money there are very few people who are stupid enough to buy them and even the people who download them for free complain about the waste of their bandwidth when they see just how bad they are

the ripping of dvd screeners and dvds when released to video stores and shops obviously costs the movie companies money
due to the evolution of

cheaper faster internet connections
more filesharing programs
cheaper dvd writers and blank dvds

the problem can only get worse
and their only hope of minimising piracy is to come up with something which stops dvds and cds being ripped

[indolikaa]

Using a camcorder to capture The Passion of the Christ...

What a paradox.

[dwight55]

Good post, indolika, . . . right on. At the same time though, . . . why would anyone take that kind of gamble for a lousy copy???? There are good copies to be had legally for $20, . . . lousy copies for even less.
I guess I just don't understand the criminal mind there. (Hollywood or the videographer, . . . either one)
May God bless,
Dwight

[lacywest]

Using a camcorder to capture The Passion of the Christ...

What a paradox.

A friend of mine bugged me to download it ... oh man ... useless time spent.

Whoever was doing the filming ... used the zoom ... showing the light on the exit door to the left of the screen.

"The Perfect Storm" ... shows people getting up and walking in front of the screen. LOL

How can anybody like these movies.

Well ... they're useful ... for Seamen on boats out at sea ... or GI Joe ... in the field ... I guess.

[Roundabout]

The poor quality of these cammed movies is enough reason for Hollywood not to even worry about them. It's not like music, where a high bitrate MP3 or EAC copy of an CD is pretty much the same as the original.

Getting a badly cammed DivX copy of some movie seems pretty much useless to me. If it's something that's released, it seems to me that they should worry more about someone renting from Netflix and copying it more than someone downloading a DivX of the same film from the net. It is nowhere near the same quality. Why would anyone want to waste their time downloading popular movies off the internet? Unless they're hard up for something to watch, it seems to be a total waste of time IMO.

And then making the camcorder illegal in theaters, is really ridiculous. So they go after the source of the worst possible copies out there, and the guy that's busy copying those screeners he got, gets away with his crime. True, they recently started going after screeners, but I'm sure most of them get away with it. Some priorities, people. :P

[lordsmurf]

What paper did this come from? "camcording" is not a word. I'd like to bitchslap the copy editors for being stupid.

Anyway, good. Video camera versions of movies are bad. No sympathy. That's one of those obvious crimes ... it's something that to me just feels wrong. Plus those little LEDs get annoying to others around you. Think of visiting a movie like visiting a buffet. You can't take it with you, even if you don't finish or have to leave suddenly.

[tgpo]

The framing is almost always off with the bottom of the screen almost always being cut of by a large degree.

I had a similar experience. Evonne and I went to see some movie and the trailers were all framed too low. So we could see the boom moving around to everyone at the table in the Meet The Parents trailer, it was hilarious. The two trailers after that you could see not only the boom, but also lights that were setup about the actors to portray sunshine.

[elmotheteapot]

Its all about crdibility, being the first one with a copy of the film whether that be a cam or not.

[thor300]

credibility, being the first, when the result is so laughable that its unbelieveable that grown up men waste time doing it? I think the cam-boys are day-care clients at mental hospitals, who else would waste time with such nonsense.

[FOO]

"camcording" is not a word

Yet....

All words were not a word at one time . Get real

[hhhhbk]

i thought movie companies would be pleased that these shit quality cam versions are available as the people who are happy with a quality which can only be described as comparable to trying to see it through a shop window on a sunny day wouldnt buy the dvd anyway

on kazaa for instance certain songs turn out to be 40 second tracks looped like 5 times if the filesharing networks are flooded with shit things like this then it decreases the chance of people getting a decent copy and just giving up and buying it

[pcexpress-guy]

Whoever was doing the filming ... used the zoom ... showing the light on the exit door to the left of the screen.

"The Perfect Storm" ... shows people getting up and walking in front of the screen. LOL

How can anybody like these movies.

I agree! It is not like this sort of thing is like some kind of rare clown porn or something... its just a stupid, "camcorder" copy of a movie which will be on NetFlix in a few months!? How much do these jokers get paid to do this?

I remember when the Phontom of the Menance came out, my local theater was robbed a reel of the film, non-digital version... (well at least that seems to be more worthwhile then this camcorder coping stuff... that's gay. ) Btw, the little guys that stole the film... yea, they went to the lockup, when there parents turn their asses in after seeing this huge-ass reel on their kitchen table (and seeing a local tv report) They worked at the theater to boot and were the ones that locked up the place, the night before. stupid asses...

it must be our public education system... criminals are getting more stupid everyday! (We need some good smart criminals again...) Where are the old days when criminal were at least trying to be smart... remember your local comic books, with the bad guys? What happen to that? Now we have dumb and more dumb trying to rob us.

What's next?

[pcexpress-guy]

You can't take it with you, even if you don't finish or have to leave suddenly. .

My theater will give you a return pass, if you have to leave. I know, because I have a little stamp jar filled with um.

[lieutenant]

Camera movies ARE a waste of time. They're unwatchable. Personally, i'd rather wait for the movie to come out on dvd then pay the money to watch a decent copy.

[pcexpress-guy]

Camera movies ARE a waste of time. They're unwatchable. Personally, i'd rather wait for the movie to come out on dvd then pay the money to watch a decent copy.

Correct Answer!

[energy80s]

Most of the telesyncs are quite good. But better to get a proper DVD SCR of a film.