New Revenue Model For Low Budget Films: Lawsuits

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New Revenue Model For Low Budget Films: Lawsuits

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday April 9, 2013 @10:35AM from the doubling-down dept.

conspirator23 writes "A 64-year-old retired English teacher is being sued by a copyright troll for illegal BitTorrent downloading of a motion picture. Perhaps it's not all that shocking in the current era. That is, until we learn that rather than protecting something like Game of Thrones, the plaintiff is accusing Emily Orlando of Estacada, Oregon of downloading Maximum Conviction, a direct-to-video action flick released earlier this year starring Steven Segal and ex-WWE wrestler Steve Austin. Voltage Pictures is demanding $7500 from Emily and 370 other defendants. If all the defendants were to pay the demands, Voltage would gross over $2.75 million, minus legal fees. Who needs Kickstarter?" As you might expect, Mrs. Orlando had never heard of BitTorrent before receiving the legal threat, and she lives in an area with dynamic IP assignments. This is the same company who has been going after file-sharers by the thousands since 2010.

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OK already by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-09 10:40 · Score: 5, Funny

EA is only the second worst company.
Hurt Locker? by Das+Auge · 2013-04-09 10:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

Isn't this what the makers of The Hurt Locker tried to do? It was largely a critical success, but not a financial one.
1. Re:Hurt Locker? by Guspaz · 2013-04-09 10:55 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  This company (from TFA) *is* the maker of The Hurt Locker.
2. Re:Hurt Locker? by lgw · 2013-04-09 11:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Hurt locker was also a huge turd. It beggars belief how it could win anything at the oscars, perhaps excepting the oscar for the biggest piece of contrived shit of the year.
  I thought that's what the Oscars(TM) are.
  * Biggest piece of contrived shit of the year.
  * Biggest leading male piece of contrived shit of the year.
  * Biggest leading female piece of contrived shit of the year.
  * Biggest piece of contrived shit costumes of the year.
  And so on. All awarded at the biggest piece of contrived shit awards ceremony of the year. But maybe I'm thinking of some other awards show.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
3. Re:Hurt Locker? by andymadigan · 2013-04-09 11:56 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm American and *I* thought it was something for and about trigger-happy rednecks.
  
  --
  The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
4. Re:Hurt Locker? by TranquilVoid · 2013-04-09 14:11 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Odd, I'm Australian and found it to be more of a character study. It certainly didn't glorify war but also doesn't criticise the U.S. involvement. In fact I was left wondering how someone who chose to be with James Cameron could demonstrate such subtlety.
  Coincidentally a few weeks ago I read a review of it in a Balinese newspaper, I think for expats. The English, or translation, was quite rough, but they did indeed slam it as pro-American propaganda.
5. Re:Hurt Locker? by camperdave · 2013-04-09 14:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Now, 'Redacted' ... that was a good movie ....
  Come now. Don't be coy. Tell us what the name of the movie was. There's no need to censor it.
  
  --
  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
6. Re:Hurt Locker? by tehcyder · 2013-04-09 23:05 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It was not a financial success because, interestingly, people in the US thought it was a commie propaganda movie
  Nothing surprises me any longer about a country that could elect Ronald Regan and George W Bush as heads of State.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Hmmm.. by MightyMartian · 2013-04-09 10:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

Get a lawyer. Countersue for $100,000 for the complainant filing false affidavits with the court. When they try to toss out the claims, say you will settle for $10,000 plus legal fees, otherwise it's off to fucking court.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
1. Re: Hmmm.. by DigiShaman · 2013-04-09 12:52 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_terrorism
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
So Simple... by Genda · 2013-04-09 10:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

Convince a good lawyer to take this as a class action. Sue for court costs, his own legal fees and emotional damages. I can't imagine jury anywhere on the planet that wouldn't give the win to the little old lady. Use this as a model for said trolls and when it becomes clear that we are hoisting these parasites on their own petards, perhaps they'll go away!
1. Re:So Simple... by Kittenman · 2013-04-09 10:51 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  1: Hire a little old lady
  2: Get little old lady to do something illegal, causing lawsuit by other party
  3: Counter-sue, win damages awarded by sympathetic jury
  4: Profit!!
  
  or maybe the simpler version
  
  1: Become little old lady
  2: Profit!
  
  --
  "The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
2. Re:So Simple... by girlintraining · 2013-04-09 10:53 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Convince a good lawyer to take this as a class action.
  
  Sorry. Class actions were deleted from your list of acceptable legal remediations by the US Supreme Court after determining that it gave individuals too much power over corporations. Please submit to binding arbitration instead, Citizen.
  
  Sue for court costs, his own legal fees and emotional damages.
  Emotional damages? "Your honor, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't work. The idea that someone could accuse me of downloading something on the internet was just so shocking. I couldn't even go out in public, out of fear others might view me as... as a (breaks down sobbing) downloader."
  
  I can't imagine jury anywhere on the planet that wouldn't give the win to the little old lady.
  Your imagination sucks.
  
  Use this as a model for said trolls and when it becomes clear that we are hoisting these parasites on their own petards, perhaps they'll go away!
  You there, troll! Go away. There. I've just rid the internet of one of its most hated archetypes. I'm gonna step out now for a bit of tea. I expect we'll see no more of those people now that the smack down has been given.
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
3. Re:So Simple... by fustakrakich · 2013-04-09 10:55 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  A good lawyer??
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Shouldnt it be the other way around... by Taelron · 2013-04-09 10:50 · Score: 4, Funny

Like with most direct to video releases, the quality is so bad, shouldnt they be paying the people that actually sat and watched it?
Re:Can't wait for there to be case law by Genda · 2013-04-09 10:53 · Score: 4, Funny

Oooo! Oooo! Me... I'll shoot a lobbyist! We should declare a season... find someone who'll stuff and mount them for our living rooms!!! Why yes, I bagged this fine specimen wandering the hall right around Speaker Boehner's office. He tried to scrabble down a stairway and boom! Funny thing is he's lobbying for the NRA!
Please, Mr. Segal by SendBot · 2013-04-09 10:56 · Score: 4, Funny

Defendant: "Please Mr. Segal, we don't want any trouble..."
Segal: "Well you better save your receipt. Because you just bought some."
(neck snapping ensues)
Mad tv reference: http://youtu.be/mXx3_ykUpfY
Re:Can't wait for there to be case law by eksith · 2013-04-09 11:14 · Score: 3, Interesting

Oops... did I say "shot"? I meant "should have cat urine poured down their throats". Seriously, I've never seen another institution meant for the citizens to petition government be abused so much. All lobbying (even the anti-gun lobby) will be at risk eventually when enough people decide enough is enough. At the moment, they're distracted by *idol shows to give a damn, but just wait and see.

--
If computers were people, I'd be a misanthrope.
Re:Preexisting business relationship by yurtinus · 2013-04-09 11:50 · Score: 3, Interesting

While we're making up random stuff, you owe me a cookie for writing about EULAs in breach of my asserted writes over that business area.

Find me a case where one of these copyright demand letters was sent to binding arbitration. Go ahead, I'll wait.

...Or you could just stick with writing dystopian fiction.

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+1 Disagree
Re:Simple #2 by yurtinus · 2013-04-09 11:55 · Score: 3, Informative

Perfect - she's already done that! What's the next step for her now?

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+1 Disagree
Re:Dear lawmakers by gmhowell · 2013-04-09 14:27 · Score: 4, Funny

Guy on 127.0.0.1? That guy has the best taste in porn, music, and movies. Problem is, it's all a bunch of stuff I already have.

--
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Voltage Pictures Strikes Again! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-09 16:24 · Score: 5, Interesting

I was actually one of the first unlucky few who received notice from both my ISP and Voltage Pictures informing me that I was being sued for downloading "The Hurt Locker" via bittorrent. They sent me multiple demands of increasing value in-order to have my name removed from the suit.
I talked to others who have also received similar demands, and we all took the same action, which was to ignore them. We decided that what they were doing was really nothing more than a scare-tactic, and later-on we read that the case as thrown out by a judge because the law-firm failed to submit a full listing of names by their given due-date. I have not heard anything from them since.
Apparently, this is a common practice for Voltage Pictures (and similar companies) when their business begins to fail financially.