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Warner Bros Claims Agency Ran Its Own Pirate Movie Site (torrentfreak.com)
Warner Bros Entertainment has sued talent agency Innovative Artists, claiming that the agency ran its own pirate site when it ripped DVD screeners and streamed them to associates via Google servers. TorrentFreak adds: In a lawsuit filed in a California federal court, Warner accuses the agency of effectively setting up its own pirate site, stocked with rips of DVD screeners that should have been kept secure. "Beginning in late 2015, Innovative Artists set up and operated an illegal digital distribution platform that copied movies and then distributed copies and streamed public performances of those movies to numerous people inside and outside of the agency," the complaint reads. "Innovative Artists stocked its platform with copies of Plaintiff's works, including copies that Innovative Artists made by ripping awards consideration 'screener' DVDs that Plaintiff sent to the agency to deliver to one of its clients." Given its position in the industry, Innovative Artists should have known better than to upload content, Warner's lawyers write.
...did y'all run out of single moms to sue for $millions or something?
That's getting pretty desperate for income when you're trying to screw over a vendor because they're too dumb to have a proper IT department...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I came to this thinking they were hosting their own pirated video site. Silly me. It was just one of their partners.
They should use the hillary defense. "We didn't intend to commit a crime."
And then countersue for illegally accessing protected content that was for use by the company employees only.
digital scarcity is not a viable business model
Perhaps instead of sending out SD quality DVD screeners, WB & Co should just issue unique Ultra Violet digital locker keys to each person who's the intended target of the screener.
Oh wait, that wouldn't work because no one would watch the screeners because UV is such a dog turd of system.
Isn't an "associate" by which I assume "business associate" of a talent agency watching a movie kind of something Warner wants to happen? Like they want industry visibility of their product, especially to talent agencies?
Isn't it also fair to assume that among industry insiders "off the books" copies of films have been around forever and are widely circulated? I'd guess old timers have significant libraries of 35mm and 16mm prints which were never paid for and some of which may have been made in labs for nothing more than the cost of film and developing.
Unless the talent agency was actively allowing people not associated with the agency to download these films, I'm kind of wondering what Warner is so wound up about. There's literally nothing happening here that hasn't gone on forever, especially since the VHS era.
While I'm sure some finance guy at Warner feels like his numbers would work out better if he could somehow include revenue from every time a film biz insider looked at a Warner film, I'm also guessing that filmmakers making money off of people involved in the filmmaking business isn't exactly what you'd call a business model.