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Small Studios Sue to End Ban on Videos for Award Voters
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 28, 2003

Some small movie production companies have sued the Motion Picture Association of America to try to end a partial ban by Hollywood studios on sending video copies of movies to awards voters.

More than a dozen companies joined in the lawsuit against the association, the movie studios' trade group, which was filed on Monday in United States District Court in Manhattan. They say the partial ban will "chill the financing of independent films" by limiting the awards they can receive. Among the 14 plaintiffs are Talking Wall Pictures, Sandcastle 5 Productions and Salty Features. A hearing is scheduled for this morning.

"Awards and accolades beget more awards and accolades, which culminate for the awards season with the Academy Awards," the lawsuit said.

In September the association's president, Jack Valenti, said a ban was necessary after videotapes and DVD's sent to awards voters were put on sale on eBay or were used to make bootleg copies. Last month the Hollywood studios partly reversed the ban, agreeing to send copies to about 5,600 Academy Awards voters but not to the far larger pool that votes on less-publicized honors. That means groups that present the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild awards, critics prizes and other movie honors will have to see films at theaters or at screenings arranged by studios. Oscar voters, meanwhile, can watch movies at home on copies sent by the films' distributors.

Some industry experts have said that the so-called screener copies increased prospects for art-house films, which have won a growing share of Oscars in the last decade. Rich Taylor, a spokesman for the Motion Picture Association, said the lawsuit was misguided because the reason for the ban was "to reduce piracy and to preserve the motion picture industry for filmmakers, both large and small."

The lawsuit said the ban was too restrictive and treated all movies the same, even though "it is clearly the big blockbuster movies that are most at risk of being pirated."

The suit seeks at least $25 million in damages and asks the court to find that the association was conspiring to monopolize the film industry, restricting trade through unlawful and unreasonable agreements with its governing members. It says continued enforcement of the ban will result in fewer movies, higher prices and decreased quality.

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• "You mean these awards aren't given on the merits?"
• They suddenly got their gumption up two days before Thanksgiving?
• "I don't want any rabbits coming out of any hats on Wednesday."

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Oscar 'Screener' Found on Internet, Academy Says

Tue Jan 13, 2:46 PM ET

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's greatest fear became a reality on Tuesday as film industry officials said a digital version of an Oscar "screener" was seen on the Internet after months of industry squabbling over whether sending out the videos to Academy Award voters would lead to movie piracy.

A copy of Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Something's Gotta Give" that was sent to an Oscar voter was found to be downloadable from the Internet to a home PC, a spokesman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (news - web sites), which awards the Oscars (news - web sites), said.

"Sony let us know late last week that one had appeared on the Internet," Academy spokesman John Pavlik told Reuters.

The studios have all encrypted copies of their screener tapes with special codes to trace them to their recipients.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the digitized tape was linked to a Carmine Caridi, 69, a film and TV actor who appeared in "The Godfather: Part II," but officials declined comment. Caridi could not be reached for comment.

Sony Pictures spokesman Steve Elzer declined specific comments on how the copied screener was traced, saying only that: "We did everything we could do ensure the secure handling of our screeners." He said the issue was now in the hands of the Academy.

The mailing of so-called "screeners" to Academy and other award voters has long been practiced in Hollywood during the movie awards season that begins in December and ends with the Oscars, which will take place on Feb. 29.

Hollywood marketers believe screeners can help films win or be nominated for awards, which in turn can boost a movie's box office, video, DVD, and television revenues.

In late September, however, Hollywood's major studios instituted a ban on mailing out screeners because in last year's awards season several copies of Academy screeners turned up on the Internet available for downloading for free.

The digital copies gave an embarrassing black eye to the studios as they battled movie piracy on the Web. Studios believe such piracy could lead to falling revenue similar to that music companies have suffered from free downloading of digital songs.

The ban on screeners was overturned by a federal court this past fall, but not before it was loosened for Academy members who agreed they would not give the tapes away. If digital copies of their personal, software-encrypted tapes were found on the Net, they would face expulsion from the Academy.

In Hollywood, being expelled from the Academy is tantamount to being banished from a country, and industry insiders were surprised at Tuesday's news. Some Academy members have taken to cataloging the screeners and making friends check them out like they might from the library.

Pavlik said the matter is still being investigated and no action would be taken until the probe was concluded.

Sony Pictures is a unit of Japanese electronics giant, Sony Corp (news - web sites) (6758.T).

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Jan. 23, 2004

FBI arrests man in Oscar screener case

The FBI arrested a Chicago-area man Thursday on charges of criminal copyright infringement and illegal interception of a satellite signal as a result of the bureau's ongoing investigation into pirated Academy screeners. Russell William Sprague, 51, was arrested at his home in Homewood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, where agents discovered hundreds of Academy screeners for recent and current movies in a search of his residence. According to an FBI affidavit, most of the screeners were originally sent to Carmine Caridi, a 22-year member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences who has been sending as many as 60 screeners a year to Sprague for at least the past three years. Sprague supplied Caridi with Federal Express shipping boxes and mailing labels. In an interview with the FBI last week, Caridi denied receiving any money for the screeners. Caridi said that he thought Sprague was a film buff and had no knowledge that Sprague had duplicated the tapes. "Mr. Caridi has not been charged with anything," FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said. "But the investigation is continuing, and additional arrests have not been ruled out." Caridi could not be reached for comment. (Gregg Kilday and Paul Bond)

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Date of birth (location)
23 January 1934
New York, New York, USA

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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two of the movie studios whose screener video tapes were found in the home of a Chicago-area man arrested last week by the FBI (news - web sites) have sued both him and the Hollywood actor to whom the tapes were issued.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures filed separate complaints Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claiming that Russell Sprague and actor Carmine Caridi infringed on the studios' copyrights by duplicating and distributing copies of the films on both VHS and DVD.

Both suits ask the court to enjoin the two defendants from continuing to duplicate and distribute the films and seek unspecified damages.

The Warners suit involves its films "Mystic River" and "The Last Samurai." The Columbia complaint revolves around "Big Fish," on which Columbia holds the copyright, and "Something's Gotta Give," whose copyright is held jointly by Columbia and Warners.

The tapes were issued to Caridi, an Oscar voter who belongs to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has admitted to sending dozens of videos over the years to Sprague in the belief that he was a movie buff. But some of the films ended up on the Internet, and they were traced back to Caridi through an encrypted digital "watermark."

According to the Warners complaint, Caridi, "a member of the Academy who received 'screeners' of each of the films from Warner Bros. for his personal consideration, made the films available to defendant Russell Sprague, and possibly others, for their unauthorized and illegal use, distribution, exhibition and duplication. After receiving the films from Caridi, Sprague illegally duplicated, exhibited and distributed the films via the Internet and other media in violation of Warner Bros.' exclusive interests."

Both complaints claim that Sprague converted the analog VHS tapes to digital formats, which facilitated their being posted on the Internet.

Sprague was arrested last week by the FBI on charges of criminal copyright infringement. A federal judge in Chicago has remanded him to Los Angeles for trial, although no date has yet been set for the transfer.

In an FBI affidavit, Caridi, who has not been charged with any criminal acts, denied knowledge that Sprague was duplicating the tapes and, following his arraignment in Chicago last Friday, Sprague told reporters the charges were "baloney." Caridi's attorney could not be reach for comment.

Both Warners and Columbia contend the defendants violated the federal Copyright Act. They are asking for compensation for the damages suffered, or, alternatively, that the defendants be ordered to pay a minimum of $150,000 in statutory damages for each unlawful use of the copyrighted material.

A spokeswoman for 20th Century Fox -- another of the studios whose films were found in Sprague's possession, according to the FBI probe -- said the studio "supports the criminal case against Russell Sprague and we are currently evaluating our options in regards to a civil case."

A spokeswoman for Walt Disney Pictures, whose films also were found in Sprague's possession by the FBI, said, "Disney is cooperating with the FBI in its investigation and prosecution of Russell Sprague and is evaluating other legal steps it may take to protect its intellectual property in this matter."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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Try not a pirate. try my mom works for universal studios and i have exclusive access to workprints and screeners and i hate piracy

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Wonder what Mrs. Own's boss would think if they knew she allowed screeners to be handled around by her kids and all his/her friends...

Then again, I'm not exactly sure about the nature of screeners, so it is possible that I'm way off base..
 

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