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Miramax C&Ds Kung Fu Movie Reviewer
Mirkon writes "When a movie distributor attains rights to a film, it's rather predictable that they go after individuals offering the movie for sale or free. But Miramax took it a step further - as reported by Wired and on the site itself, Mark Pollard of Kung Fu Cinema received a Cease & Desist letter from Miramax concerning a link on Kung Fu Cinema to a movie purchasing site for the Jet Li movie Hero (set to be officially released in North America in April 2004). Fearing Miramax (and thus Disney) and their army of lawyers, Pollard deleted the link, as well as another for Shaolin Soccer, also unreleased in North America. Pollard criticized the studio for not permitting the original version of such films to hit the states, saying "If they own the rights to this film, then this film is not available to U.S. consumers -- period." The EFF also has some comments regarding the fact that Pollard has done nothing wrong in the first place."
Hello McFly!
You sell something in one country, other people in other countries are going to want it!
How exactly does this make marketing sense?
Hold on, let me strap my self in for this one, I'm sure its going to be good.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Yeah, I believe that one. Shaolin Soccer was supposed to have come out this past summer... saw trailers for it during Bend It Like Beckham and saw movie posters for it hanging in theaters. Has it been released theatrically here? No. Even if it had been, it was going to be a highly-edited version.
That's why people end up having to buy things like Hero "illegally." In fact, I think I'll go order a copy right now... before Miramax tells eBay to cease and desist...
"This? I can make a hat, I can make a brooch, I can make a pterodactyl..."
The EFF also has some comments regarding the fact that Pollard has done nothing wrong in the first place.
Whether or not he did something wrong is irrelevent. It's whether or not he did something unprofitable. Some corporations these days seem to believe they have a god-given right to profit, and that censorship and lawsuit chill is an acceptable tool to that end.
Until the average freedom-loving American starts to wake up to this and works to get the courts to adjust, it's probably only going to get worse. What happens when they realize that not talking about it on a website doesn't curb the problem? Tinfoil hats, people, they'll be after your thoughts next.
I'm sort of kidding, but not really. They're already blaming text messaging for ruining movie profits.
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
The "Region system" for CD's makes no sense, as all it does is hinder sales.
If I am in Region 1 and want one of the many Region 2 DVD's (that will never come out in Region 1), I have to get a hacked DVD player, or get a pirated/cracked version of the CD.
Next time you see those "Movies: They're worth it" anti-piracy ads about lost revenues, remember that the movie industry is throwing roadblocks in the way of those who want to legally purchase AND view legitimately-pressed DVD's. If they wanted money, they'd make the DVD's available to those who want to buy them.
And here is Miramax proclaiming it a grand victory. It is such a victory that they just forced hundreds of formerly potential customers into p2p file sharers. Miramax must love how they're encouraging the illegal file sharing that their other movie studio bretheren have damned as dangerous. Give a hand for Miramax, another promoter of P2P technology.
A file swapper is not born, he is created when something desired is not availible at the price desired. When that something is not availible at all, that turns all of those that wish it into p2p file junkies.
Sorry state of affairs, honestly.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
It appears that Miramax is stating that their exclusive rights to movie distribution include the purchase of IMPORTS. Since when is it illegal to import a legal copy of a video from another country? There are import CD and movies available at video and music stores all the time.
Miramax isn't late, they're just busy releasing the other crap that marketing thinks middle America will like. Really good movies get the shaft with alarming regularity.
The studios ignore the mass pirates because it's sexier and easier to go after file sharers with a big marketing campaign. To combat the pirates in China, Russia, etc, they'd need actual guns and stuff, because there are real pirates out there that will kill you if you raid their CD duplication factories.
Whatever happened to the concept of a free market economy? Shouldn't people be able to purchase this film, and tell others where to do the same, without fear of being sued for it? What law(s) would this even violate?
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
"MiraMax think they can easily get away with stopping release of movies in certain regions. All part of the greater scheme of sucking as much"
But doesn't it hurt sales and profits to say "We never will make it available for your country" ?
if you delay distribution for more than 1 year. Some companies seem to buy up exclusive distribution rights for asian movies just to prevent them from competing with their own products. Like Disney did with Studio Gibli and Miramax with Hero, Shaolin Soccer or others. (Just try to get a DVD of Drunken Master 2).
These tactics are in total contrast to the purpose of granting distribution or copyrights. Which should promote the arts and encourage artists to publish their work.
***Quis custodiet ipsos custodes***
the other crap
Well, as perceived from Europe, "Hero" had was outstanding bith in terms of picture and storytelling : not just another blockbuster. IMHO, it was the best picture of 2003, ex-aequo with Devdas, an Indian "opera".
You'll understand if you watch the Chinese army hailing...
About "Shaolin soccer", I have to say it was really funny, but of course, soccer doesn't seem as popular in America as in Europe...
(I personally don't like to watch soccer but the movie made it quite enjoyable)
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Talking isn't/shouldn't be illegal.
Doing things that harm others is/should be illegal.
If person A is selling drugs, and person B is saying where person A can be found, then go and prosecute person A.
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The trick is, if we allow consumers to decide what they want for themselves, they will find and come to expect GOOD movies, which are much more difficult to make than "Gili". It's easier to ensure that you have a good return on your investment in a movie when you can totally control what it's competing with. Additionally, it's easier to milk each region for what it's worth, rather than having one price.
In short, they don't care about hypothetical sales for "hero." They want kung fu fans to shut up, get out there, and start paying up for whatever they have decided is the kung fu movie for december 2003 is. Stop telling them what you want. The movie / music industries will tell you what you want, and when you can have it.
But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
It is 100% legal for a US Citizen to purchase the film from an importer (or by importing it themselves) without going through Miramax. If Miramax doesn't like the fact that they don't really have exclusive control of the market, then they should sue the makers of the film for selling copies in the far east without somehow guaranteeing that none of those copies will get to America. This is ridiculously impossible to do, of course, but that's the just the nature of how impractical an exclusive distribution contract is. There's no such thing as geographical exclusive control anymore; this is a global economy.
Miramax's argument is deception, and the person to whom they wrote the C&D, was not violating their rights.
It's disappointing that this dude caved in. I can understand it; I might cave into bullies too, instead of paying a lot of money for defense. But there's no way he would have lost, had it gone to court.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
What the fuck are you smoking? This isn't about selling illegal substances, this is about selling movies. Not bootlegs, either - these are perfectly legit copies.
What's happening is that Miramax is taking its sweet time releasing the movies in the US - so the free market steps in, and people start buying DVDs from overseas retailers. If that's illegal now, then we got big problems.
Hmm.. I just screened my copy of Shaolin Soccer for a bunch of friends at a party this weekend. It must have played at least 4 times in a row. I invite you to ask anyone that was there exactly how many times they "break into song and dance periodically for reasons unknown". One of the lead characters sings a brief serenade, which would only classify this movie as "musical-like" as much as any other movie that has anyone singing for longer then 3 seconds. Also, it's not "about a bunch of losers who use magic powers to win local soccer matches". It's a group of brothers who studied kung-fu as children and now live in modern society, one brother having the dream of finding an effective way to teach other the wonders of kung-fu. Did you pay attention when you watched this movie? You sound like a highschool jock describing opera.
Hero is perhaps visually similar to Crouching Tiger becuase they share the same producer, Bill Kong. Tony Ching Siu Tung even directed the action, the same action director from Shaolin Soccer. And saying "the entire movie consists solely of amazing battle scenes" is crap. The action is incredible, but it stands second to the communication of personal relationships between the characters. It's a shame you weren't able to emotionaly relate to the characters at all, else it would have been an even better experience.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
Yes, it should be illegal. If I were to say "There's a lot of drugs in [insert name of local "urban" housing project]", that would be okay. If I were to say "Go down to the corner of 4th and MLK Blvd, and talk to the guy in the red stocking cap. Tell him Leroy sent you", then that would be an accessory to a crime (purchasing drugs).
I *should* be able to report facts. As in "These movies have been out for years and are legally purchaseable by non-US residents at these sites."
It's all about intent. If the intent is to get around importation regulations, then it's wrong. (Personally, I believe the restrictions are detestable, but that's another story). If the intent is to point out how corporations buy distribution rights and sit on them for a really long time to prevent competition with their home-grown crap movies, well, that's just reporting facts/giving opinions.
If, on the other hand, that statement was meant to refer to languages on a disk, you are also wrong. Most DVDs can carry as many as five soundtracks in addition to subtitles for ten countries. In Region3: Southeast Asia, DVDs typcially have an English and two Chinese soundtracks and subtitles in Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, Korean (North and South Korea use the same writing system even though they are in two different regions -- maybe Region5 is the Communist region), Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Malay, Vietnamese, and of course English. Sometimes these disks have other features like extra soundtracks. Really, though, the subtitles can be considered unlimited. Text storage for subtitles will never be a significant portion of 4.7GB even if they included Ancient Mayan. So, if that was your question, no, they do not have to choose a language.
There is only so much space on a disk for what? Segregation? There should not be any space on a disk for such a thing. People should be able to buy DVDs anywhere in the world and watch them anywhere else. When you buy something it is your possession. You own it (and before anyone considers it, I do not even want to hear the licensing argument -- it is pure BS). You should be able to access the information on it until you break it, throw it away, or sell it. No one should have the right to tell you what to do with your movie that you purchased.
Perhaps you missed my point. I am precisely against this. I want access to all DVDs in the world. I should be able to buy movies from India over the Internet if I like and watch them on a DVD player in Europe or on the freaking moon. My intellectual explorations should not be restricted by some fat, cigar smoking, Harvard graduated executive who thinks he is my father and knows whats best for me. I am spending my money, and I will not be told what to spend it on. Nice flamebait. This is not a "personal vendeta against an individual". Far from it. I am against all that would restrict my freedom to learn and think. As far as freedom goes, those are the two most fundamental freedoms of all. Jack Valenti is merely one of those who is working actively to keep the people of the US, if not the people of the world, ignorant for his own profit. I am not personally against him. If you had said I had a vendetta against copyright, you might have had a halfway reasonable argument. Quite the contrary, actually. Your post has proved to me how right I actually am.All data is speech. All speech is Free.
But uhh, gee.. We're not COPYING anything.
I fail to see how buying an import DVD from Hong Kong is copying.
Personally, I detest artificial market restrictions. It's just as bad as DVD region coding.
-Z
Thank goodness I'm not 'most people'... they sound pretty stupid!
...I just came for the free beer.