My Opera'Hurt Lockers' downloaders, you've been sued
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 5:27:03 AM
(CNET) -- Producers of Oscar-winning movie "The Hurt Locker" have made good on a promise to file copyright lawsuits against people who illegally shared the movie via peer-to-peer networks.
Voltage Photos, an independent production organization, filed a copyright complaint on Monday towards 5,000 John Does in federal court in Washington, D.C. According to court records, next about the company's to-do list would be to understand the names with the John and Jane Does from their Internet service providers.
Attorneys for Voltage wrote within the complaint that unless the court stops the people who pirate "The Harm Locker," then Voltage will suffer "great and irreparable injury that can't fully be compensated or measured in money."
Voltage has asked the court to order anyone who downloaded the film illegally to destroy all copies of "The Hurt Locker" on their computers and any other electronic device that they may have stored the film.
As for monetary damages, the movie's producers did not ask for a specific figure but want individuals found to have pilfered the film to pay actual or statutory damages and cover the costs that went into filing the suits.
So, here we go again.
Some large harm
The "Hurt Locker" producers aren't the first to kick off this new round of suits against people. A company calling itself the U.S. Copyright Group seems to become spearheading these efforts and has filed lawsuits on behalf of 10 other movies, such as "Far Cry" and "Call of the Wild 3D."
None of individuals flicks have come close to earning the notoriety of "Locker." The film won six Academy Awards this year, including one for "Best Picture." The movie was a disappointment at the box office, nevertheless, grossing only $16 million domestically.
Nonetheless, a film with an Oscar pedigree could potentially whip up a lot of sympathy among independent filmmakers for the idea of taking a stand against file sharing.
CNET: 'Hurt Locker' sharers -- expect docs like this
But the filing of a lawsuit does not a successful legal campaign make. Not when you're talking about the volume of file sharers Voltage has set its sights on.
This is well tread ground after all. The four top record businesses attempted to use litigation as a deterrent for five years and were confronted by bad publicity, big legal expenses, and this little nugget: the suits didn't slow illegal file sharing.
And also the labels are big corporations with lots of cash to fund antipiracy operations. Voltage is fairly little and isn't backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group representing the six largest movie studios, such as Disney, Sony Photos, and Paramount Pictures. The MPAA employs staff to assist avoid studio-backed films from leaking to the Web and track them down when they occur.
It appears the Copyright Group, which is private and has nothing to do with the government despite the official-sounding name, is offering smaller movie businesses a means to fight back towards piracy.
Your IP address
Regardless of whether Voltage can bankroll a legal campaign involving 5,000 individuals, or regardless of whether litigation can make up for lost profits remains to be seen.
But two points are for certain: First, Nicolas Chartier, who co-founded Voltage, doesn't appear afraid of some poor publicity. On the contrary, he seems to welcome it. Not just did he get banned from the Academy Awards for lobbying judges to vote for his film, but he recently called those who disagree with his lawsuits "morons."
The second thing that "Locker" sharers should know is that according to the filing, Voltage already has the Internet protocol addresses with the five,000 John and Jane Does.
There was some question whether businesses for example Time Warner and Comcast would provide the information because the Copyright Group has filed so many requests for IP addresses; about 50,000 for a dozen or so films. The ISPs say they don't have the resources to chase down this many. Keep in mind, in 5 many years, the RIAA filed suit against less than 40,000 individuals.
"The plaintiff has identified each defendant by the IP address assigned to that defendant," Voltage's attorneys wrote. "The plaintiff believes that info obtained in discovery will lead to the identification of every of the defendant's true name."
Edition CNN
Voltage Photos, an independent production organization, filed a copyright complaint on Monday towards 5,000 John Does in federal court in Washington, D.C. According to court records, next about the company's to-do list would be to understand the names with the John and Jane Does from their Internet service providers.
Attorneys for Voltage wrote within the complaint that unless the court stops the people who pirate "The Harm Locker," then Voltage will suffer "great and irreparable injury that can't fully be compensated or measured in money."
Voltage has asked the court to order anyone who downloaded the film illegally to destroy all copies of "The Hurt Locker" on their computers and any other electronic device that they may have stored the film.
As for monetary damages, the movie's producers did not ask for a specific figure but want individuals found to have pilfered the film to pay actual or statutory damages and cover the costs that went into filing the suits.
So, here we go again.
Some large harm
The "Hurt Locker" producers aren't the first to kick off this new round of suits against people. A company calling itself the U.S. Copyright Group seems to become spearheading these efforts and has filed lawsuits on behalf of 10 other movies, such as "Far Cry" and "Call of the Wild 3D."
None of individuals flicks have come close to earning the notoriety of "Locker." The film won six Academy Awards this year, including one for "Best Picture." The movie was a disappointment at the box office, nevertheless, grossing only $16 million domestically.
Nonetheless, a film with an Oscar pedigree could potentially whip up a lot of sympathy among independent filmmakers for the idea of taking a stand against file sharing.
CNET: 'Hurt Locker' sharers -- expect docs like this
But the filing of a lawsuit does not a successful legal campaign make. Not when you're talking about the volume of file sharers Voltage has set its sights on.
This is well tread ground after all. The four top record businesses attempted to use litigation as a deterrent for five years and were confronted by bad publicity, big legal expenses, and this little nugget: the suits didn't slow illegal file sharing.
And also the labels are big corporations with lots of cash to fund antipiracy operations. Voltage is fairly little and isn't backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group representing the six largest movie studios, such as Disney, Sony Photos, and Paramount Pictures. The MPAA employs staff to assist avoid studio-backed films from leaking to the Web and track them down when they occur.
It appears the Copyright Group, which is private and has nothing to do with the government despite the official-sounding name, is offering smaller movie businesses a means to fight back towards piracy.
Your IP address
Regardless of whether Voltage can bankroll a legal campaign involving 5,000 individuals, or regardless of whether litigation can make up for lost profits remains to be seen.
But two points are for certain: First, Nicolas Chartier, who co-founded Voltage, doesn't appear afraid of some poor publicity. On the contrary, he seems to welcome it. Not just did he get banned from the Academy Awards for lobbying judges to vote for his film, but he recently called those who disagree with his lawsuits "morons."
The second thing that "Locker" sharers should know is that according to the filing, Voltage already has the Internet protocol addresses with the five,000 John and Jane Does.
There was some question whether businesses for example Time Warner and Comcast would provide the information because the Copyright Group has filed so many requests for IP addresses; about 50,000 for a dozen or so films. The ISPs say they don't have the resources to chase down this many. Keep in mind, in 5 many years, the RIAA filed suit against less than 40,000 individuals.
"The plaintiff has identified each defendant by the IP address assigned to that defendant," Voltage's attorneys wrote. "The plaintiff believes that info obtained in discovery will lead to the identification of every of the defendant's true name."
Edition CNN
