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NetFlix Caught Stealing DivX Subtitles From Finnish Pirates
An anonymous reader writes with word that NetFlix recently opened its streaming service in Finland and was promptly caught stealing movie subtitles from a local DivX community site. How were they caught? NetFlix failed to remove references to the pirate site in the subtitles.
telling us how piracy is hurting their business and costing them money!
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Maybe they were taking hints from Ubisoft: http://megagames.com/news/ubisoft-steals-reloaded-crack-fix-its-own-game
"Online TV giant Netflix was closed captions unauthorized use of his pants down..."
I predict "unauthorized use of his pants down" to be the new "not want".
Online TV giant Netflix was closed captions unauthorized use of his pants down, when the Finnish users ...
It has been shown that Netflix also used portuguese community generated subtitle files for its Brazilian site. Netflix used it with errors and all. I don't think that its illegal, technically... but IANAL.
Here is the source [http://blog.lancamentosnetflix.com.br/2012/09/netflix-baixando-legendas-da-internet.html] :(
Sorry, i don't know how to create the fancy links in the comment.
I mean I am sure the CEO of netflix did not give an order "hey, get pirated subtitles - I am sure they are professional quality and won't contain profanities etc that could get us in trouble".
So, somewhere in the chain of passing out the requirement for, I assume, low cost translation, some "bright mind" had this idea. It is very likely that even the actual translator paid to do the work thought he/she might save some time!
But in general, it would be a great thing for someone like NetFlix to hire a well known sub-release group for their translations, but I really don't see that happening...
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
That's what I was thinking. Technically, the copyright owner owns the rights to derivative works. I don't see this as hypocrisy on the part of Netflix, Netflix owns very little content. If the studios did it, then OK, I see that as hypocrisy in a way. But people complaining that someone stole something from thieves? That's a different kind of special right there.
Stealing? How? Were the pirates deprived of the subtitles? The Slashtard hypocritical use of "stealing" then whining when the "MAFIAA" uses it the same way is hilarious.
Every summary contains an obvious typo, formatting error or similar glitch to encourage people to post and to increase ad traffic. Try putting an oblivious mistake into one of your posts and see how long it takes for people to respond to that rather than your original point...
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
The people that should have made money from writing those subtitles and that probably have done so for Finnish Television or Cinema companies, have not been paid, nor has their product been used. That means that these people are deprived of royalties in favour of illegally obtained translations that have violated the copyright of the show in question.
Either that, or the whole model doesn't make sense, take your pick.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
They watch Arrrr-rated movies
rewriting history since 2109
The pirates are stealing from them (from the whole industry), so what's wrong with stealing a little from pirates?
Well, apart from the fact that it's not stealing, it's unlicensed copying, nothing.
I guess these pirates can see how it feels now.
Probably: great; I would be laughing like hell if I had done this and Netflix took my subtitles.
However, you are completely missing the point here. There are some of us who think it's okay to "pirate" and do so. There are others, like myself, that feel that unlicensed copying should be allowed in many more circumstances but don't feel like breaking the law. Until now there's been a third group which is benefitting from the laws, but was following them. Finally there's been group, such as congressmen's children, which are breaking the law because they can get away with it.
What we are seeing now is that in fact, there's no third group. The RIAA "pirates" music for their ads. The big media distribution firms demand adverts on other people's YouTube videos because of some real or false positive fair rights use of their material. The media distribution companies, like Netflix, are completely happy to "steal" material from anywhere they feel like. These people do things that, if you did them, would end you up in jail or paying hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines. They pay nothing and rarely even apologise.
This is all about the Amercan corporate royalty and their "Droit de Seigneur" with your ideas, privacy and creations. This is not news because the copying is immoral; it is news because, it's yet another slip of the front and makes it 100% clear that you too are plebs and the only thing wrong is letting you know it.
=~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
For the n-th time, repeat after me: copying != stealing. The Finnish group still has access to its subtitles, they were merely copied, not moved/stolen. If we complain that the MAFIAA uses wrong terms in its campaign against free file sharing, so we should also refrain from using the same flawed terminology.
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
People still use DivX?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
That's what I was thinking. Technically, the copyright owner owns the rights to derivative works.
No, he does not. Because it involves the creative work of the translator. This translation is probably an infringing derivative work, and the original copyright owner could stop it being published, but could not claim it as his own property.
If I write a Spider-Man fanfic, Marvel cant just take it and publish it as their own. They might sue me, but they can't take my work.
Unauthorized use of his pants down?
And that's why Netflix didn't just use Google translate to make their own subtitles -- I've done that when I had no alternative, and while you can follow what's happening, obviously idioms are a problem, you get lots of wacky stuff like that..
A few comments from someone who lives in Finland.
First, Netflix reacted by posting a note saying it was sorry for the trouble (the exact wording changed a time or two). It has also removed those programs where the DivX Finland subtitles were used. Or said that they will do so, I am not a subscriber, so I am not able to check.
The representative of DivX Finland is just feeling amused, although he did say "well they could've asked for permission..." (this from TFA) - there is no outrage there.
Apparently Netflix buys their subtitles from Broadcast Text International, who in turn buys them from a multitude of sources, including a number of freelancers. Probably one of those sub-contractors just got them from the easiest location.
According to a blog post (in Finnish) from the website av-kaantajat.fi (video subtitler's site), Netflix is getting their subtitles with super-tight schedules and expecting to get 1,5h worth of subtitled programs per day, whereas to do this properly it would usually take a week.
From the same blog post, in an interview with the Netflix subtitling chief Neil Hunt, he said outright that he's not interested in quality. So apparently the subtitling for them is just a feature checkbox that needs to be ticked off, with minimum cost and without other considerations.
Now for some background. At the same time as this has happend, the major Finnish TV media house MTV3 has recently in September outsourced all of it subtitling and translations to the same Broadcast Text International. MTV3 used to employ more than a hundred translators in-house. The difference is that BTI is offering to pay freelance translators to what amounts to less than a third of the income from a monthly salary.
The translators have been taking quality seriously, and now with these changes the quality is expected to go down a lot. While this saves money for the media companies, there is an argument that there are subtle effects on the population. For example, many Finnish children and youths start to learn to read from subtitles, and some also start to learn the English language from English programs with Finnish subtitles. Another point was that poor subtitling may make the whole movie worse, without the viewer realising that the source of poor dialogue is not in the movie itself, but just in the translations for the subtitles.
Netflix's approach to "quantity over quality" is just another move in the same direction, and as such, worrisome. It's also not a surprise that when paid very little and expected to deliver a lot, someone would resort to the easiest approach. Also, given Netflix's attitude, I'm not surprised if they don't have any quality control of their own for the subtitles which is why something like this would pass through.
It's a subtle error.
Millions of people copy stuff and don't end up in jail or pay fines. You have to be sued for that, and nobody sued Netflix.
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Finnish is not a Scandinavian language.
That's like saying companies are scum for making money off of linux.
Next time, read less comments and put more energy into comprehending those comments.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Hang them from the yardarm by their lutefisks.
Well, if I was netflix I would just say that the the credits were left there *intentionally*, i.e. they didn't want to remove the author's signature.
But the summary says this: "How were they caught? NetFlix failed to remove references to the pirate site in the subtitles", i.e. the clever thing to do but have been to just remove the credits and be done it with. What would we be saying if this was code instead?
Also, did they just take a transcript or a translation? Not the same thing.
You can't steal ideas, period, but when you start to preach absurd ideas like "intellectual property" you end becoming the hypocrite, as proven here.
And I suggest you follow your own advice and try to put aside enough of your own stupidity to at least try to comprehend what you are reading. Not everything which is given freely is given freely unconditionally.
You're right about the last part, not everything given away freely is given unconditionally. If you actually read the website, the only thing they had to do to comply with their conditions was to NOT remove the website name, which is exactly what they did.
I do take my own advice, now you should try it. I know it's anathema to /. culture to actually read what you're talking about, but maybe you should try it some time.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
...the subtitles also explicitly prohibit the use of same for commercial purposes! Double whammy!
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Perhaps the joke was just too subtile.
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
I just watched "The Cape" on NetFlix with English subtitles on and at the end of each episode the URL of the subbing group comes up!
"There is nothing nice about Steve Jobs and nothing evil about Bill Gates." - Chuck Peddle
This is not Netflix policy, then have thousands of employes in many countries, and to get stuff subtitles they have hired many different companies. Presumably one of those companies had an idiot working for them, who did this. And most likely that person is now fired.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
It's called "Plagiarism", to use another's production without crediting the source.
Like with so much in life, just because we have computers doesn't mean unethical behavior is a new thing in the world.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Commenting to undo accidental negative moderation, your post is actualy quite insightful.
I don't realy see any problem here. The subtitle community is creating the subtitles for the pirate versions of the movies in the first place and they are making them available for free on the internet.. What's wrong with netflix taking their subtitles, leaving atribution in them and using them in their service? (Considering they checked the quality of the subtitles first. Fan-made subtitles often have lots of errors in them). Why should netflix duplicate their work and make their own subtitles? Wouldn't the human resources be better spent on some more productive activity?
I wouldn't think there would be a big market for movies subtitled in Finnish - even in Finland I think most people can understand other languages (like English, or French, or German or the other Scandinavian languages)
Nearly all foreign TV shows and movies which are shown on Finnish TV channels are subtitled in Finnish – that’s the norm here. (Dubbing is normally never used here except for the content intended for kids under reading age. Also, the narrated sequences in some documentaries are sometimes re-narrated in Finnish whereas their on-screen dialogue remains subtitled. But those are pretty much the only exceptions.)
The same practices go for actual movies seen in a movie theater, and the shows and movies released on DVDs or Blu-Rays.
DivX Finland is mostly providing subtitles for the purposes of watching shows and movies which are not (yet) made available in Finland through official channels, or – as it might be the case with some more obscure foreign TV shows, for example – never will.
Some individuals who are fluent in some particular foreign language – usually English in the Finnish context – take pride in watching shows or movies of that language without subtitling. Yet, the norm here – which is also reflected in the default settings of the set-top boxes and TV sets – is that subtitles for translation are always on and visible. (The local TV channels show a lot of foreign content which specifically calls for translation. It just wouldn’t fly if they tried to provide it to the Finnish-speaking audience “as is”, with no effort to translate. People expect the translations to be there.)
Some Finnish-language shows may also have subtitles in Finnish for the benefit of the hard of hearing. But these subtitles, which are not about translation but transcription, are never seen by the normal folks as you need to fiddle with the settings of the TV to receive them. And only those who have the need will want to see them on their screen anyway. (There is also no legal requirement to provide such Finnish-on-Finnish transcription service, so the availability of such special-needs subtitles is pretty much limited to some select shows produced by YLE, the local public broadcaster.)
IP piracy is different in that the infringer is not seeking to present the work as their own
And just what exactly do you think Netflix showing you subtitles created by someone else IS!!!!!!
That is exactly why I raised this term.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley