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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Oscar Screener Copy of Movie Found Online
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Mark J. Marshall
Film God
Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 01-15-2004 08:59 AM
quote:
To hell with hidden codes, these tapes should have had their name burned in over the picture plain as day.
I vote for both actually. And keep changing the hidden codes around. Keep the pirates on their toes. Now, how long before NATO or some such group comes back at the studios and says "OK, how about you relax these dumb ass rules you've imposed on us about only having a couple of hours to turn the print around when it comes in and goes out?"
And by the way, this just keeps getting better and better!
Link Here
Text of story:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two additional movies sent to Oscar voters have surfaced on the Internet, with a screener copy of "House of Sand and Fog" briefly up for sale on an auction site and "Cold Mountain" available for downloading, studios said.
Miramax said Wednesday it was looking into how an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screener copy of its Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" was posted on the Internet.
The actual videocassette copy of the grim drama "House of Sand and Fog" was up for sale on eBay before DreamWorks SKG contacted the site and asked that it be removed.
The Los Angeles Times reported that security features on the tape indicated that it belonged to Ivan Kruglak, an academy member and president of a wireless data communications company.
Kruglak told the newspaper he didn't know how a copy of his tape was posted for sale online, saying, "I firmly believe someone at the duplicating house made themselves a copy before the studio sent it to me."
Earlier in the week, the academy said copies of "Something's Gotta Give" and "The Last Samurai" had been posted online.
The Internet postings come after an anti-piracy campaign by the film industry, which has estimated that unauthorized movie copying costs it $3.5 billion a year. The 5,803 Academy members eligible to vote this year were required to sign forms promising to protect their screener tapes.
Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 27 and awards will presented Feb. 29.
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Ron Yost
Master Film Handler
Posts: 344
From: Paso Robles, CA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-15-2004 07:14 PM
Ah, but they can, and do, Scott, though apparently not to 'anyone'.
I quote from eBay's official privacy policy:
"Legal Requests. eBay cooperates with law enforcement inquiries, as well as other third parties to enforce laws, such as: intellectual property rights, fraud and other rights, to help protect you and the eBay community from bad actors. Therefore, in response to a verified request by law enforcement or other government officials relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity, we can (and you authorize us to) disclose your name, city, state, telephone number, email address, UserID history, fraud complaints, and bidding and listing history without a subpoena. Without limiting the above, in an effort to respect your privacy and our ability to keep the community free from bad actors, we will not otherwise disclose your personal information to law enforcement or other government officials without a subpoena, court order or substantially similar legal procedure, except when we believe in good faith that the disclosure of information is necessary to: prevent imminent physical harm or financial loss; or report suspected illegal activity. Further, we can (and you authorize us to) disclose your name, street address, city, state, zip code, country, phone number, email, and company name to eBay VeRO Program participants under confidentiality agreement, as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity.
Due to the existing regulatory environment, we cannot ensure that all of your private communications and other personal information will never be disclosed in ways not otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. By way of example (without limiting the foregoing), we may be forced to disclose personal information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances, third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications, or users may abuse or misuse your personal information that they collect from the Site. Therefore, although we use industry standard practices to protect your privacy, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information or private communications will always remain private."
There is more detailed info in the Appendix to the Privacy Policy.
Ron Yost
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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-17-2004 11:11 AM
Strange... because I've seen lots of different types of screeners before and they all had some kind of markings or coding to identify them.
When my friend managed a video store, all the screeners they got had the scrolling text at the bottom every 10-15 minutes about "do not copy, lalala, call this number" after which a "print number" would appear in one of the corners, usually 4-5 digits in length, and stay there for a good 10 seconds.
The academy screeners are all different, though. I remember "Titanic" simply said "Academy Members Special Widescreen Edition" in the black bars. Everyone had a copy of that tape (or tapes?) and I even remember the bus driver playing it on the TVs when we took a field trip in high school. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) I'm sure if there was a number printed somewhere, that "academy member" would never see any more "special widescreen editions" in their lifetime.
I even saw one screener... forgot the title but it was around 1998... that had NOTHING on the screen! Just the movie in perfect widescreen. Now I think this was a film that had just been released as oscar bait or something in the US, so the problem wouldn't be so much that people in the US are trading copies amongs themselves, but if such a perfect copy ever made it overseas (which it probably did) someone could rig up a video projector and have a "screening" of a movie that hasn't even been released in their country yet!!
And recently I heard that they've been releasing DVD screeners?? Let's hope someone in Mesopotamia doesn't have an all-region player...
Why not just release screeners on 16mm? Better tracking, less chance of dupe, better chance of being viewed as intended...and EVERY film critic should have SOME sort of film projector at home. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
=TMP=
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Sean Weitzel
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 619
From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall)
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-23-2004 02:30 PM
From the San Jose Mercury News:
link here
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7781257.htm
- published today.
FBI makes arrest in Internet movie piracy case
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A man who allegedly used the Internet to distribute Oscar ``screener'' movies sent to him by a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been arrested in Illinois, authorities said.
FBI agents arrested Russell Sprague, 51, on Thursday after an early morning search of his Homewood, Ill., home turned up hundreds of copies of screener films such as ``The Last Samurai,'' ``In America,'' and ``Shattered Glass.''
Sprague was to appear in federal court today in Chicago to face criminal copyright infringement charges. It is the first arrest in the bootlegging of screeners in the United States, the FBI said.
Agents said the films have been traced back to a longtime Academy member, 69-year-old actor Carmine Caridi, who was described as a friend of Sprague's.
In addition to the movies, agents said they found an array of duplicating and illegal satellite television interception equipment in Sprague's home about 20 miles south of downtown Chicago.
A woman who answered the telephone at Sprague's home Thursday evening hung up without comment.
Caridi told investigators he sent VHS copies of about 60 movies he received each year to Sprague. He allegedly told investigators he received no money for the films, and believed Sprague was merely a film buff who wished to watch them.
The FBI said Sprague used a software program to convert the VHS tape into DVD format and then sent the original tapes back to Caridi. Two screeners recently circulated on the Internet, ``Something's Gotta Give'' and ``Big Fish,'' were identified by Sony Pictures as having been shipped to Caridi.
Warner Bros. studio recently alerted the FBI that copies of its ``The Last Samurai'' and ``Mystic River'' were being made freely available for download on the Internet. It was not known if those copies been traced to Sprague.
Caridi, a veteran film and TV actor, has been a member of the Academy for more than 20 years. He appeared on TV's ``NYPD Blue'' and in such films as ``The Godfather: Part II'' and ``The Godfather: Part III.''
Caridi has not been charged but additional arrests have not been ruled out, FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said.
Caridi's attorney, Richard Millard, told the Los Angeles Times that the actor ``was embarrassed to learn that his name was associated with the film that was being improperly distributed.''
Sprague and Caridi had been introduced by a mutual friend a decade ago, Millard said, adding that Caridi ``had no idea anyone else would be seeing'' the films he sent Sprague.
Investigators said a search of Caridi's Hollywood apartment turned up 36 original Academy screener tapes, including ``The Last Samurai,'' ``In America,'' ``Shattered Glass'' and ``Mona Lisa Smile.'' Large quantities of FedEx shipping labels bearing Sprague's address were also found, authorities said.
An Academy spokeswoman declined to comment.
The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents studios, last year banned the distribution of screener DVDs and videotapes over concerns about bootlegging, but partly lifted the ban after complaints from filmmakers, producers and independent production companies.
The studios changed the policy in October to allow the shipment of encoded videocassettes that would allow tracing to Academy Award voters only. A federal judge in December, however, granted a temporary injunction lifting the screener ban in a lawsuit brought by independent production companies, which argued the policy put them at a disadvantage. The studios then sent screeners to thousands of other awards voters.
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