Hurt Locker's Producers File Copyright Complaint Against 5,000 Downloaders
Hurt Locker's Producers File Copyright Complaint Against 5,000 Downloaders
Posted 05/28/2010 at 3:52pm
| by Pulkit Chandna
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Taking a leaf out of the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) book, the producers of the Hurt Locker on Monday instituted legal proceedings against people who illegally downloaded the critically acclaimed film from the internet. Voltage Pictures, the production company responsible for the film, fired the first salvo in the form of a copyright infringement complaint against 5,000 people. The scope of the complaint might even be expanded to accommodate more downloaders later on.
“The true names of Defendants are unknown to the Plaintiff at this time. Each Defendant is known to the Plaintiff only by the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address assigned to the Defendant by his or her Internet Service Provider on the date and at the time which the infringing activity of each Defendant was observed,” reads the complaint.
Voltage Pictures told the court that it will amend the complaint to reflect the true names of the defendants as and when it is able to identify them. And yes, the complaint also mentions the Hurt Lockers's amazing feat of six Oscar victories (probably in a bid to make a strong first impression).
The production company believes it is entitled to recover from the downloaders actual or statutory damages, costs of filing the suit and attorney fees. It is also seeking “injunctive relief” in the matter, asking the court to prohibit illegal downloaders from further downloading, pirating or hosting/storing unauthorized versions of its films.
Although RIAA has abandoned the mass lawsuit strategy, the contagion seems to be sweeping the film industry, with a consortium of film studios called the US Copyright Group filing a similar complaint against 20,000 downloaders in March.
Image Credit: The Hurt Locker
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Gee27
March 03, 2011 at 9:00am
I have a new discovered site which will fit all what we need for a car insurance. I just found this due to an accident that one of m family member has encountered. I never wanted to happen this to others and I am so much aware what are the problems that most us will have.
jimcurtis89
February 26, 2011 at 12:41pm
Its pity that such a great movie is being stoled by the downloading.
<a href=http://www.leanspaacai.net>leanspa acai</a>
s1r 70nk
June 07, 2010 at 8:59pm
After reading the article and many comments, its easy to see that their are people out there that are fine with downloading movies and there are people that think its wrong. Thats just life. There will away be two sides to anything. "Everything that happens in this world has an equal and opposite reaction."
Now the reason they only have IP address of the users that downloaded the movie is because thats all they should have. I think under the privacy act the release of those users names and contact information is subject to violate the act that protects us.
Something to think about. I think the producers of Hurt Locker need to talk to PIXAR. Lately PIXAR and other producers are starting to encrypted their DvD's so they can't be just copied.
mesiah
June 01, 2010 at 9:06pm
You can't justify the price of something by stealing it, I'm sorry. If you don't agree with the price you don't buy it. But really, stealing it makes you no better than the person who made it, in fact it makes you worse. Not to say I never watch bootleg movies. But I'm not going to try and justify it. I'm stealing, I realise that.
festiva_man
May 31, 2010 at 2:13am
I used to download many cd's. I never went into the movie realm though. When I downloaded something that I liked I would go to the store and by the CD. I love box art and love to have a real copy. My CD collection went from around 10 to 60 the whole time I downloaded cd's. I started to worry about stuff like this happening and have since stopped downloading. My CD collection in the past 5 years has grown maybe 5 additional ones. I have to agree with some folks here on the movie thing though. If you want to stick it to the man, just stay away from the man.
Gspawn
May 30, 2010 at 6:08am
Wow,
you folks are turning this into a cluster screw arguement over p2p. The whole point behind the matter is, here is a production group that through pisspoor marketing, staff leaking copies a year before release and generally just a shitty movie are trying to recoup what they describe as LOSSES from the only people they possibly can. The d/l public. They have no proof of actual names only IP's which can be borrowed or stolen.
The story itself is in litigation and they themselves are being sued for stealling the movie plot so are using these spam lawsuitsas a way to try and cover this.
Come on, the movie grossed 18 million, sorry to break it to you, it wasnt the few thousand p2p who d/l it that caused this, it was the shitty frigging movie.
I have not d/l nor watched this movie but after the reviews I have read and the actions of this production company I will Stick it to the man/woman by never watching a movie they have or will produce.
That is the real issue at heart here,
If a movie sucks and bombs, live with it, don't try and go after the very people who MAY be going to watch the next clusterfuck you have your creative hands in.
And, if p2p affects the bottom dollar so bad, how come Avatar is the most d/l movie in history and yet is still the top earning film of all time? because peeps who watched it through p2p decided it was worth watching and went to the theatre to watch it on the big screen and or bought it when it came out on dvd.
I am not condoning d/l illegal content in any way but if you made a good product the p2p would buy a copy when it was released. I do believe there was a study done that proved more p2p people buy dvd's than none.
Again, p2p is wrong but going after anyone they can to recoup losses on a shitty product just seems to be the way the movie industry is still headed.
PawBear
May 29, 2010 at 2:50pm
I've never in my life heard such a load of crap coming from some of the commenters on this site. So many of the people here continue to justify their thefts using price, availability, rights, the "American" way, quality, DRM, etc. and insulting those who disagree with them, like me.
You're stealing. It doesn't matter what reason you give for it. MAN UP! Admit it. At least I can respect that.
*** "Either we conform the Truth to our desires or we conform our desires to the Truth." ***
Mark17
May 29, 2010 at 11:54pm
Downloading copyrighted material IS NOT stealing. It is copying. If it is stealing, then I guess I could burn the data to a CD and send it back to them since I took it from them. But it doesn't seem like that should be necessary. Am I missing something?
Hydian
May 29, 2010 at 8:05pm
Illegal, but not stealing any more than it is murder, rape, or jaywalking. It is copyright infringement which is distinct from theft both legally and in common usage. Stealing the movie would actually have much less severe consequences than infringing the copyright does.
Danthrax66
May 29, 2010 at 5:51pm
I never said I wasn't stealing, I'm just doing it to fight the man, and no it doesn't make it right but it shakes things up and sends a message. I am upset that people support the idea that a $150,000 fine is justifiable based on no proof of actual lost sales. Because come on who would buy that shitty movie.
Danthrax66
May 29, 2010 at 9:34pm
I didn't download it or watch it, yet. And besides you can dl things without watching them...
Danthrax66
May 30, 2010 at 9:53am
People said the same thing about bus boycotts and peace marches but they had an effect and so is torrenting. If they are going out of their way to launch lawsuits and fine people then they care. It's only a matter of time before they start to realize all of their lawyers are ineffectiveand they need to change their business model. I really don't give a fuck if you don't get the message they are, because if they weren't they wouldn't be doing what they are doing now. I have downloaded movies before just not this one and it doesn't matter that I am annonymous because as most people know annonymous people can get a lot of things done. Also an ip address isn't enough information to convict you of a crime and the fcc wants net neutrality so the riaa and mpaa will never legally be able to find out who you are based on an ip. So maybe you should stop wasting your time trying to preach to me because I don't care.
snapple00
May 29, 2010 at 8:46pm
Another wannabe misfit.
Tell me, who supports the 150,000 dollar fines you speak of?
So have fun "sticking it to the man" while you are alone in your room eating chips stealing movies (and based on your post, for some reason you like shitty movies lol)
What message are you sending? I really hope you believe what you have said, because that would be hilarious. I didn't know anyone was actually that dumb and could still type! LOL
Danthrax66
May 30, 2010 at 9:58am
You don't get it ip addresses don't prove shit saying you dl something doesn't prove shit either. You believe all the horror stories that the riaa/mpaa give out that don't apply to torrenting they apply to kazaa and limewire which is a lot different than torrenting. As long as your isp doesn't give out your information you can do what you want.
Danthrax66
May 29, 2010 at 9:32pm
The message that we are tired of their bullshit drm/soc/high prices. But whatever I read this article on engadget or digg a few hours before it was copied and posted here without all of the information. And no I didn;t torrent this movie and I generally don't torrent movies until something like this happens then I go out of my way to dl it. And no I'm not a wannabe misfit I;m tired of fucking corporations writing their own laws in this country and then trying to impose them on the entire world. I'm tired of companies being allowed to do what the fuck they want (like BP). And I will oppose them in any way I can, until changes get made.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/28/hurt-locker-producer-brings-the-pain-and-lawsuits-to-5-000-sus/ <-- fucking bullshit
Danthrax66
May 30, 2010 at 3:45pm
Well at least 5,000 other people downloaded this movie so I guess there are a lot of people that agree with me. You are such an idiot go pay $20 for a shitty movie I'll just keep torrenting and only buy the movies that are worth it.
gendoikari1
May 29, 2010 at 7:58pm
And besides, why steal this piece of crap? Even Avatar is a better waste of download space.
Young Falcon
May 29, 2010 at 9:10am
I know many people have seen 'WARNING' on dvd's and vcr tapes for a while now. Individuals downloading music, videos, and programs off the internet illegally should be prosecuted to the fulliest extent of the law because they think that they can not be found and that they can be excused from the EULA that some if not all P2P programs have. Very few people take the TIME TO READ the EULA and automatically AGREE TO IT. With todays technology and the economy the way it is..... individuals are making money selling music, programs and videos on dvd's and bootlegging the material.
In my opinion if the RIAA and other organizations get together to catch and prosecute these individuals and start collecting fines and the computer systems that they used to download the material then everyone would start getting the message....
"Downloading ILLEGALLY can make life miserable"
Everything you download and everything you type on computers nowadays is recorded in ASCI code, Binary, and Octal and then sent to company as an update.
I support the RIAA in their attemps to catch these individuals.
Danthrax66
May 29, 2010 at 12:16pm
You sir are an idiot. What gives them a right to go to ISP's and demand our information despite the fact that an IP address is not enough information to convict someone. So they end up getting some old person's ip because someone random used their open wifi to torrent it then they send them a scare letter saying pay us $1500 or you are getting sued. Well fuck that they have no right they are still making money and getting rich and can afford all of these lawsuits.They are doing this because they want control and feel that we are taking that control away. This has nothing to do about a EULA it has everything to do about a broken system and greedy assholes setting ridiculous prices on dvd/blu-ray that cost very little to produce but have an extremely high mark-up, they are fucking price gouging. And you think it's fair for a $150,000 fine for downloading a movie? Fuck you.
People pay to see good movies, just look at avatar, they don't pay to see shitty ones and for the first time we are able to distribute movies "illegally" without paying for them so the shit hollywood has been producing for years is taking a hit, but the good movies still pull in millions. And the fact that we don't pay for shitty movies is pissing them off. But anyway this isn't going to be a problem once the fcc pushes through net neutrality. Fuck the MPAA, no talent directors, and shitty writers that steal people's stories.
And I guess you happened to overlook all of the studies that show people that torrent movies spend MORE money on movies/music than people that don't.
Mark Hanchey
May 31, 2010 at 8:06am
Are you a member of the socialist party ? You sure sound like it. It doesn't matter how greedy someone is, you do not get to tell them what they can do with something they own. You did not make the movie so you have no right to it. Don't like the terms, don't buy it, walk away.
If you think the movie industry is just raking in the cash look again. MGM studios is one of the oldest studios in the world. They are the ones that made the Bond films. They announced there would not be another Bond film because the studio is going to have to file for bankruptcy protection.
Legally what you are doing may be hard to prove, but morally you know it is wrong and are trying everything possible to justify your actions. You are no different than the person caught shoplifting who says they did it to feed a drug problem.
snapple00
May 29, 2010 at 8:53pm
"And I guess you happened to overlook all of the studies that show people
that torrent movies spend MORE money on movies/music than people that
don't. "This is not true. But of course you need this to justify your pathetic life stealing movies all day. But I would love to see those "studies". lol
I didn't know your opinion on what is a good movie or a bad movie was fact!
(Oh wait, you are a complete moron..)
Danthrax66
May 29, 2010 at 9:42pm
http://torrentfreak.com/pirates-are-the-music-industrys-most-valuable-customers-100122/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/06/bittorrent-vuze-survey-purchasing-dvd.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/illegal-downloaders-spend-the-most-on-music-says-poll-1812776.html
yeah... I generally only torrent music and then buy cd's if I like the band or not and rip them to .wav or something. I hate giving money to the record label though I would much rather support a band through concert tickets.
Mastergeek
May 29, 2010 at 9:07am
While I don't condone downloading copyrighted material, I also don't condone the mass legal actions that the Film makers, studios, MPAA, or RIAA, etc undergo against these people. I am also against copy protection schemes as well. This is another movie that I will not purchase or support in any other way, simply because of this situation. I have scores of Blue Ray movies and many hundreds of DVDs, legally purchased. This is one title that won't be on the list.
There is such a thing as "loss" in any business. Whether it be from spoilage, theft, poor manufacturing processes, etc. It should be factored into the bottom line. When the companies spend huge amounts of money to prosecute people, then my belief is they have contempt for their customers at large. Why should I be burdened with copy protection schemes on my BD player? I have two BD titles that refuse to play on my NEW BD player. It needs a firmware update that is not available yet, to update the copy protection schemes so they will play. Should I have downloaded them while I wait for my legal copies to become workable?
Find a way to capitalize on the demand for downloaded content and they would probably make more money than they realize. A reasonable fee for a file download would probably work. I won't spend $10 to download the Mp3 version of a CD that I can buy for $10 in a store or online. Same goes for a movie. If they charged $5 - $10 or less for a current movie title, they would have no printing and retail distribution costs, so their actual profits would be much higher. What they don't understand is that some people will prefer digital content and will pay a reasonable fee to download it. Look at the downloadable music business. It's not fully developed and it's HUGE. The failure of the movie industry to find a way to distribute content for reasonable fees is NO excuse to target these downloaders. Mass prosecutions just anger their legitamate customer base.
I also sample a lot of Music out on the web, to see if it's something I wish to purchase. Like trying on a pair of shoes in the store. Unfortunately, there is a lot of music that does not have that option, "LEGALLY". If I find something I like, I'll buy it.
If I do purchase something, I should be able to make a copy for my own personal use, or for backup. I don't take the original music CDs in my car, since they get destroyed from heat and abuse, or lost. A CD copy or Mp3s, made from the original makes more sense. It should be the same for Movies. I have portable devices capable of playing Video content. I should be allowed to "Legally" convert my "Legal" content for use on them, or make a backup copy for portable use.
All they have done is anger and frustrate their paying "customers". NetFlix or RedBox look like decent alternatives, since I wouldn't have to purchase something, just to find out it sucks or won't play. Unfortunately, it still supports the poor practices and efforts of these greedy companies.
(End of Rant)
acekard
May 29, 2010 at 4:33pm
I didn't actually pirate the Hurt Locker. I rented it for 1$ at Red Box, wasn't hugely impressed, and returned it the next day. I hope they feel warm at night about whatever tiny cut they got off of my rental :)
mesiah
May 28, 2010 at 9:14pm
Oh the irony... Sueing people for stealing a movie whose plot was stolen from someone else. I hope karma prison rapes the producers of this movie.
snapple00
May 29, 2010 at 1:06am
Oh the stupidity? Not only is that not ironic, but it doesn't even make sense. What does the plot have to do with people stealing the whole movie? FAIL.
mesiah
June 01, 2010 at 9:09pm
For those interested. Here is a more in depth article that actually details the fact that the plot of this movie was actually taken from a real soldier that the producer was embeded with. No compensation was offered to the soldier.
http://www.dailytech.com/Hurt+Locker+Producer+Allegedly+Stole+Plot+Now+Sues+Filesharers+Ironic+Yes/article18427.htm
gendoikari1
May 29, 2010 at 7:12am
"It's ironic how the producers are suing people that pirated the movie when they stole the plot of the movie from someone else." Thieves suing thieves.
mesiah
June 01, 2010 at 9:03pm
Thank you. That is exactly what I was pointing out. Too bad some
douchebag wants to go shooting his mouth off about shit he doesn't even
understand. Snapple, how about you take your head out of your ass,
actually look at the news once in a while, and try correcting yourself
before you graduate to policing others.
Zachary K.
May 28, 2010 at 7:43pm
"next case, 87.158.25.211 vs, Voltage Picture"
i hope they get tried by a jury of their peers.
dethdeks
May 28, 2010 at 7:41pm
that movie isn't worth the download time it takes to dl it or the time it takes to go to the store n rent it. movie sucked a big one hard
BjaminNYC
May 29, 2010 at 7:13am
Terrible movie, possibly the slowest moving movie of the year. I'm not quite sure why the awards shows had such a hard on for it. I'd be really pissed if I got sued for downloading this turd.
dethdeks
May 28, 2010 at 7:41pm
that movie isn't worth the download time it takes to dl it or the time it takes to go to the store n rent it. movie sucked a big one hard
gendoikari1
May 28, 2010 at 7:09pm
In my opinion, I wouldn't know why anyone would waste their bandwidth on The Hurt Locker.
Gspawn
May 28, 2010 at 6:29pm
Here we go again. Another producer who's movie BOMBED at the box-office trying to go after anyone he can to regain his supposed losses. I don't think its the p2p community who sunk the film. Do a little reading, did it not only gross 18 million? Only opened in like 400 movire theatre's and was leaked by their own production staff a year before it was released.
Who cares if it won 6 oscar's. The production company themselves is now being sued by a US soldier for basing the character on his life with no compensation.
Just another money grab by a no talent movie maker.
My opinion only.
aviaggio
May 28, 2010 at 7:12pm
Agreed. He can "steal" from a US Soldier, that's ok. But "stealing" the film that's not worth the cost of admission or even a Redbox rental and he's gonna sue you. What a douche.
Not only will I *never* pay to see The Hurt Locker, I will go out of my way to ensure I *never* spend a single penny supporting ANY of his films.
He should feel lucky there are 5000 people that even want to see that POS movie.
jlh304
May 29, 2010 at 5:35am
Well if you are not got support "any of his films", you might want to know that he is a she (Kathryn Bigelow).
aviaggio
May 29, 2010 at 12:50pm
Bigelow was the director. Voltage Films is the producer, and they are the ones filing the suits. Nicolas Chartier is the head of Voltage.
jlh304
May 30, 2010 at 6:54am
Bigelow was the director, but she was also the producer (along with Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, and Greg Shapiro being created as producer). So Mr. Chatier is partners with Dean Devlin in Voltage Pictures, they alone did not produce the movie. Studio was Grosvenor Park Media and the movie was distributed by Summit Entertainment. So if your going to boycott she makes the most sense, since she helped to not only bank role (produce) the movie but was also the director.
If you want to boycott the movie because they are going after BitTorrent users then yes by all means go after Nicolas Chartier and Voltage.
Mark17
May 28, 2010 at 4:17pm
That's why you don't use public trackers. Or... just use your neighbors Wi-Fi.
hierophant
May 29, 2010 at 12:55am
Use an anonymous OpenVPN-based VPN. Lock it down. Test for leaks (decloak.net, www.grc.com/dns, Wireshark, etc). Once you're satisfied, fire up your client. I like Vuze. Test using checkmytorrentip.com to confirm. And BTW, don't rely on Tor.
Peanut Fox
May 28, 2010 at 7:56pm
Why would a private tracker be any safer? It doesn't change your IP address, and it's not impossible for someone from the RIAA to get onboard.
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