Hurt Locker producer brings the pain (and lawsuits) to 5,000 suspected pirates
By Ross Miller 
posted May 28th 2010 7:30PM
posted May 28th 2010 7:30PM
posted May 28th 2010 7:30PM
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What if you pirated it but didn't like the movie? I don't ask for any reason at all...
@ApocalypseGuppy
Then they pay you $1500
@ApocalypseGuppy I didn't really get much out of it either. It was really done well as a portrayal of what really happens out there done as a semi-documentary style film, but there was really no depth to the characters or a dramatic theme to the story which I believe is needed to warrant a Best Picture award. All IMO of course.
@ApocalypseGuppy
You and your ISP get to sue them for wasting your time and their bandwidth, respectively.
@Eli Haj Wish I coulda up voed you more than once! Owwwwww!
@Oneill5491 Yeah I can't say it was done badly, but I didn't really enjoy it and certainly wouldn't want to see it again. I think wanting to see a movie more than once is a bit of a prerequisite for my DVD purchasing decisions.
@ApocalypseGuppy
You should offer to return it.
@ApocalypseGuppy
what if you pirated it... but you also bought it?
@ApocalypseGuppy
I don't think I downloaded this version...
With an ass producer like Nicolas Chartier for The Hurt Locker - the guy who emailed all the Academy members asking them them to vote for the film. You would think he learned his lesson first time around, Look at this 2nd email of him replying to someone who disagreed with his tactics of suing BitTorrent users (this article). Note his responses in bold. if you are going to be this much of a prick, then quite frankly I have no sympathy.
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2010/05/hurt-locker-producer-offends-some-pussies-again
@ApocalypseGuppy
So a production company is suing people out of personally large amounts, that in total is a nick of the cost they probably expensed on lunches while making the movie?
Hmf.
@ApocalypseGuppy
Wait a minute... you can download movies!?
Are they also suing my ISP for driving the getaway car?
@ApocalypseGuppy, super!
I didn't download Hurt Locker but I saw it on Netflix. To me it's pretty good action movie, but is quite pathetic and far from reality.
@ApocalypseGuppy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35688925/ns/entertainment-movies/
What is worse, someone downloading your movie or you embedding with the real serviceman and stealing his whole story including his phrase 'Hurt locker' then making a movie about him and not giving him 'any' credit or compensation?
These scumbags made this movie after the Hurt Locker writer, Mark Boal, embedded with Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver and his men for a whole month and no other bomb guys. Everything he wrote was based on his experience with them and based 'on' them. . . . . . . . and they have the gaul to bitch about people stealing.
Hey scumbags, consider how you feel when you think about some kid watching your movie without you getting your cut then consider how Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver feels after you make a movie about him then preen around while he doesn't get a penny or even a direct mention.
@ApocalypseGuppy
what if you never would have bought or gone to see it, but downloaded out of boredom? what if you downloaded and never watched it? what if you paid to see it in theaters and bought the dvd for yourself and others and downloaded it? what if you never would have seen it, then downloaded, then bought it because you liked it and wanted to own a real copy with menus/features/higher quality?
@Michael Jackson R.I.P.
@Poita
Ownage!
@ApocalypseGuppy
That camera gimmickery was annoying the second time - let alone as a ... running gag? zoom ZOOM! Whoa. Isn't that... SCARY? And yes - no depth to the characters. Dangerous job? Yup. But one people volunteered for. If Iraqi's weren't being tortured and imposed on by a U.S. invasion in which undoubted loved ones were killed, perhaps they wouldn't have such a craving to kill us. Oh.. and in case you think I'm anti-american... I'm a former Marine. What I am, is [not] a nationalist. I don't give a shit about borders. A life has value irrespective of locale. Anyway - back to the movie. It was decent for a school project.. perhaps if it were better they could have cashed in the box offices instead of in court (as they hope).
@ApocalypseGuppy DRM will always be a losing battle. These, producers should realize it by now. Anyway, as for downloading P2P. Just be careful, or you can really go to prison, like this kid. http://j.mp/p2p-kid-jail
@ApocalypseGuppy you take some risk when you pay for a movie. Maybe you'll like it maybe you wont. The producers take a much much larger risk - albeit with larger potential rewards.
@ApocalypseGuppy
Lol, can someone pirate something and ask for a refund of their times?
@ApocalypseGuppy So $5k for downloading a $25 movie? Hmm, no wonder why the studios are frowned upon in the first place.
It was a good movie, and the talented people who made the movie do deserve to be paid for their talent.
Pirating is hurting the studios, actors, and the tradespeople who support the craft.
I hope they win the lawsuits.
@alexz - you are joking, right?
@alexz Really, because I find it strange that each year they claim piracy is hurting them, yet they have no actual proof. The numbers they spout are lies that they have no real data to back up their claims with. This has been proven by the very source they claim gave them the fake numbers they have been using to force the government to make laws like the DMCA go in to effect. These bastards are just plain greedy, they make more money YEAR AFTER YEAR. The Box Office records have been broken in the united states every single year since Star Wars was theaters over 30 years ago. Every year they Cry about piracy and in the same breath talk about how the box office is up from the year previous. That means they are continuing to make money in SPITE of piracy. DVD sales beat the box office sales and they still cry piracy.
HOW MUCH MONEY UNTIL THEY STOP LYING!!!! Apparently all of it I guess.
@alexz Its people like you who make me want to drink heavily... seriously dude
@ttringle I don't necessarily agree with his cry for the producers needing their money, but
pirating a video online is no different than stealing a DVD from the store. If you don't want to buy it drop the $5 to rent it and watch it with some friends that way your in a whole buck and not breakig any laws.
@RLBurkes I agree with you - rent it. But it's not the same at all. If I steal a DVD from you, you no longer have the DVD. If I pirate a DVD from you, you still have your DVD. It's copying, not stealing.
@RLBurkes
If you watch a movie and aren't taking any physical product, I'd argue that you aren't stealing. If I go to a bookstore and sit there and read a magazine and don't pay for it, is that considered stealing? I could go to my public library, rent the video for free and watch it and that's perfectly legal.
@alexz
this is entrapment. I'm no lawyer but I know entrapment is not legal in USA. Somebody proves me wrong plz!
@ttringle
while the lawsuits and esp the dollar amounts seem ridiculous, piracy hurts. you think the only person who works on a movie is the movie studio CEO? take it from someone who squeaks out a living writing songs. theft ultimately trickles down. there are a lot of people who earn a money from movies and music in a lot of different ways and we all suffer when people don't pay. music has been decimated by it. and the only reason movies haven't seen it as bad yet is bc it requires more time and effort right now to pirate a film.
that doesn't discount the need for change or to adapt to change or to have a discussion about prices or the value of free anything, but just keep in mind that there are more people involved than just a faceless company.
@SeattleSudo It is not illegal to read a magazine in a store like it is not illegal to watch a movie that is playing at the store. But coping means your are reproducing copyrighted material which is illegal with out written permission.
@alexz
lol at those conflating copyright infringement with theft.
@dark star It's not entrapment. It would be entrapment if the law enforcement officers were the ones offering the movie for download in the first place.
I think this suit is ridiculous but it's equally ridiculous to say that it's not stealing or hurting the studios. If you download it for free chances are you won't then go rent or buy it. (Sometimes you do, but not most of the time.) That is lost money to the people who made the movie. You're kidding yourself if you think the only media people download is media they NEVER would have paid for in the first place. "I only download stuff I know I won't like so it's not stealing." Really?!
I hate the studios for their stupid perpetually outdated approach to digital media, especially regarding fair-use copies, but downloading without paying IS stealing.
@MBN http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stealing --- copyright infringement IS NOT stealing it is infringement. If I go to the museum and take a very HQ set of pictures of Picasso's art and hang it on my living room wall did i just steal his piece of work? NO!!!
@Tommy Five Okay how about the case of renting the DVD, watch it, like it and bring it to a friend so he can watch it. Would that be pirating? No. Copying movie and renting it out to your internet friends isn't legal. Okay your argument about still having the original copy is valid. What if I delete the files after uploading it.
@ZebriahKarr It is copyright infringement if the museum has the sign or it written somewhere saying "no photography" as usually it is the museums responsabilty to protect the art. But some of the art has no copyright due the creator and heirs dead or having no right to art because of legal reasons.
@ZebriahKarr Semantically, you are correct. It is still illegal. It still effects the victims the same. Copyright infringement, stealing, either way it's wrong.
@sykohamster hmmmm :/ Not that I am an expert or anything but no photography of art @ museums is for the physical protection of the art due to the light given off by flashes. Least that is what the Louvre Museum told me when I was there back in 2002. Some art is well fragile. And again if there is a sign posted saying not photos then legally they can only kick you out, not sue you. My local swimming pool has a posted sign that says no running!
@ZebriahKarr copyrights due expire.
@MBN I am not arguing whether it is wrong or not. I am simply pointing out that u cannot steal a movie, song, pc game, picture or other digital media via bittorrent and the like. To steal you must physically take from someone. The argument that piracy steals revenue is in itself ridiculous. To me, IMO, it is like I set up a fruit stand and sell fruit for $5 a basket. In the process you set up a fruit stand right next to me and give 5 baskets to every 1 basket i sell away. Did it effect my revenue? possibly! I could argue that I could have made more money if he'd not been there. But lets face the facts we simply don't know what could of happened. That isn't enough to post these outrageously priced penalties.
@alexz
Not sure why you've been downvoted so heavily. I guess the self-righteous anti-corporate pirates have taken over.
People don't download things illegally, so this is all smoke.
@Drez143 What world are you living in?
@Drez143
A world where people don't understand sarcasm it seems.
@Drez143
Strangely, this is the only movie in the past 3 years that I actually paid to watch.
My friend and family think I'm a hacker, or a cracker, of some sorts because I can download whole movies, and albums, in less than an hour. They really think Im some type of computer genius. I laugh and tell them, "Im no hacker, Im stealing, that rights, and its illegal. Anybody who spends 10 minutes, and at least tries can do it, all I do is click download basically. Its no different , from walking by a fruit stand and taking an apple"--- thats not entirely true but you get my point. They look at me like I'm crazy, and they never tell me I should stop. I feel bad about it though.
@Bud92
You should stop. It's wrong and... and... the leprechauns will get you! Yeah, watch out for those fucking leprechauns, they can be real bitches.
@ttsgeb
Your fruit stand analogy is false. Downloading a movie doesn't stop someone who wants to purchase a license from doing so. Stealing an apple from a fruit stand prevents someone from buying that apple.