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Author Topic: WB and Fox are watching you! Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-28-2003 08:55 PM                     Isn't it sad that the general public is so stupid/ignorant/has no morals that we have to run a trailer explaining that this is not acceptable to the other people in the auditoriums? Doesn't that strike anyone as odd?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-28-2003 09:34 PM                        How's that 'pirates will be shot on site' policy trailer coming along Brad?  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-28-2003 11:19 PM                    How about the ones who never really thought about using a camcorder to tape a movie off the screen. Now they will be like hey let's get a comcorder and sneak it in and tape the movie. The way the letter was worded it sounds to me like they only want it played on the sneak. Next thing you know you will be seeing the big FBI logo and the copyright act playing before the movie.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-31-2003 10:05 AM                    I always thought that putting a security camera in the front of the theater pointed back at the audience was a good idea.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-31-2003 10:54 AM                        As I understand it, the FBI Warning that appears on videotapes, DVDs, film cans, etc. has absolutely no legal weight associated with it. It's intended to scare people and nothing more. Copyrighted works are protected by US copyright law regardless of whether they bear FBI Warnings or not. (Insert "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer here. Although I have heard this from several sources, at least one of which _is_ a lawyer.)  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 04-24-2003 11:13 AM                     Today on the IMDB site had a story about "Feds Bust Man for Taking Videos at Screening". http://us.imdb.com/StudioBrief/2003/20030423.html Jesse He's making $1000-$4500 a week for his activities. Yes, those types of tapes look like crap. But people are buying them. [ 04-24-2003, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Bill Gabel ]  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 04-24-2003 12:52 PM                     Camcorder bootlegs look and sound like crap- why would anyone bother?  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 04-24-2003 02:25 PM                     Jesse, that's the some question I have always asked myself. It does not make sense. Just something to think about: Quality is like buying oats. If you want good quality oats, you have to pay a fair price. However, if you are satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse...Well, they are just a little cheaper.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 04-24-2003 02:54 PM                     Paul That's a Good One, well put.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 04-25-2003 12:19 AM                     Mmmmmmmmmm. Horse oats! =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Bill Langfield Master Film Handler Posts: 280 From: Prospect, NSW, Australia Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-26-2003 08:29 AM                        Randy... quote: If you really want to foil people who try to use camcorders to pirate movies why don't you put some flickering infra-red LEDs behind the screen in positions strategically designed to be the most annoying? If the positions of the LEDs could be manipulated in such a way as to make a specific pattern for every screen you can even tell which auditorium the copy was made in. HEY!! That sounds like a DAMNED FINE idea. Do you know if this would really work in practice? I mean, you might need a whole heap of LEDS aimed back from the around or through the perfs of the screen for it to be effective. The studio's could use it for the world-premier/opening-night/red-carpet/director-room screenings, thus removing the need to search people or survey for video cameras. I'd whack a copyright on that idea if I was you,then pitch it to Fox (who are the real parnoid ones) and WB. Sure sounds like a good idea. Bill!  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-28-2003 08:49 AM                        Even if the video camera were sensitive to infrared, it would be possible to use an infrared-blocking filter. IMHO, encouraging others to report those using a video camera in a theatre is still a good way to discourage piracy. So is vigilance by theatre personnel: http://www.infocusmag.com/02December/builtby.htm  |  IP: Logged Nicholas Roznovsky Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 From: College Station, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-28-2003 10:45 AM                        I can understand the legal reasoning in the article John linked to above, but just kicking out people with camcorders won't solve the problem. They'll just drive down the street to the next theater that isn't as vigilant in looking for piracy. From the In Focus article linked to above: quote: As the laws stand now in most states, the best solution is to simply remove the patron from the premises. Piracy is a theft of product. Imagine if retail stores could only tell shoplifters to leave instead of being able to prosecute them. "Well, we caught you. You have to leave. Don't do that again please." Not a very effective system. At least with the CAP code, we can tell where people should be kicked out of and theaters can get in trouble. It's somewhat frustrating that theater operators can be held accountable for something they don't have the tools to deal with effectively.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-28-2003 11:14 AM                        The people who want to sneak their Handycams into theatres badly enough will always be able to do so. Short of strip-searching patrons at the door, there's not much that the typical theatre can do to prevent the die-hard film pirates from getting in. The problem seems to primarily affect "big" movies, as fans of art-house and repertory programming tend to be educated enough to prefer the big-screen experience to blocky, jerky, flickering bootleg copies. Personally, I think that the best weapon that theatre owners can use against film piracy is to make sure that the theatrical experience is so far superior to the lame DIVX-encoded crap that shows up online that no one with half a brain would want to watch the pirated version when the theatrical presentation offers so much more. This is why we need to bring back 70mm, large screens, and killer sound systems for first-run theatrical engagements. The theatres which only offer "film done wrong" (and/or "showmanship done wrong") just give people another reason to stay home.  |  IP: Logged Andrew Lee Film Handler Posts: 99 From: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2002 posted 04-28-2003 12:08 PM                     Piracy occurs not only in the theatre but in the labs as well. Combating piracy in the labs is an internal issue and steps are being taken. The future will tell if they are successful. As for piracy in the theatres, there are a number of groups and a few inventors working on some solutions. The LED idea is not new and has a few drawbacks relating to cost and implementation. I have been lucky enough to witness one new idea and have also been part of another, both of which I am legally not allowed to talk about in detail. I will tell you that one of these ideas will in fact stop the use of any camcorder if it can be implemented effectively in a theatre setting.  |  IP: Logged

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