Hollywood Illegally Demands Money From Kindergartens
Written by enigmax on October 05, 2008A company collecting royalties on behalf of Hollywood studios has illegally demanded payments from kindergartens in Ireland. The MPLC requested 10 Euros ($14.00) per child per annum, so that they can watch DVDs legally. However, by doing so they breached the 2000 Copyright Act since MPLC failed to register with the Patent Office.
We have recently reported on the situation in the UK where charities and even police forces are threatened with legal action for playing music within earshot of the general public. Hollywood is no stranger to strict royalty collection activities either, and has stooped to a new low.
The Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC), which is charged with collecting royalties for the big studios, recently wrote to 2,500 kindergartens (or playschools as they are known in Ireland), informing them that it is illegal for the kids there to watch DVDs without an appropriate license.
According to The Times, the letter was sent with the knowledge of the Irish Preschool Play Association (IPPA), which represents many schools populated by around 50,000 kids between 3 and 5 years of age. The IPPA had worked out a deal with the Hollywood representatives, and eventually managed to get the royalties down to 3 euros per child.
Despite the lowered fee, most kindergarten owners were stunned by the request. Paula Doran, who runs a playschool in Dublin, said that the kids hardly watch any DVDs at the kindergarten. “We would rarely show DVDs anyway because it’s frowned upon — kids get enough TV at home,” she said. In fact, the only time the kids are allowed to watch a DVD is when they are pretending to go to the cinema, a learning activity that Hollywood would fully endorse. Doran said she couldn’t understand how the MPLC could be acting legally, and refused to pay.
It turned out that she was absolutely right not to pay. The MPLC actually failed to register with the Irish Patent Office, and by demanding payments in the way they have, breached the 2000 Copyright Act. A spokesman from the IPO confirmed that an organization that acts in this manner could be fined or have its staff jailed.
The MPLC belatedly applied for a license to collect the royalties on Friday. It’s never too late to learn, or for the kids, never too early to start filling Hollywood’s pockets.
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59 Responses
This is insane… Threaten kids when they are young and they will surely refuse to pay for Hollywood’s services when they grow up.
F the MPLC!! they are sick!!
isn’t this what’s known as racketeering?
New one MPLC LoL
MPLD = Motion Picture Licensing D*cks :)
F**K faces. too many greedy companies now a days.
They should License my DI*K !
lol. Unauthorized organizations demanding payments under frivolous legal threats FROM KINDERGARTENS!? I think that could indeed be classed as racketeering. Either way, it’s pretty fucking low.
Why am i not surprised by this ?
When the RIAA wants money from the dead, the MPLC demanding protection money from kindergarden kids sounds just about right.
Looks like mafiaa’s failures in court mean they need to get money from somewhere else. The crappy movies and music they produce dont make money so why not take money from kindergartens. Sad just sad.
@1
They arent threatening kids but the kindergartens… Just as bad but still.
>:) And now the teachers replace their cinema trips with p2p lessons. And another generation refuses to go to the movies because you sued them.
You should be grateful that these copyright fascists are digging their own graves. Never forget! Never forgive!
BAN THIS SICK FILTH
lulz. love how they give me reason after reason to pirate their shit. Thank mp*** whomever.
Gotta go grab some extra shit now. Thanks for motivating me.
isnt this considered private usage or something like that? or are you only allowed to watch movies alone anymore. we watch dvds in school all the time and no one ever complained oO
@8 get TOR and p1ss off
If there were EVER a reason to boycott the money-grubbers, now I have it. OMFG, this is so beyond the pale of what would be considered reasonable as to be damnable. Shame!
Frikkin amazing… Truly, I’m at a loss for words right now after reading that.
No point in making any response to our resident pedo wanker people. He’ll get bored eventually.
They try to sue our grandmothers, our laserjet printers..
whats the hold up? Why havnt they been assassinated yet? Seriously..
Click Boom.. no more problem.
what a bunch of pikey c**ts i hope they burn in hell! how could anyone stoop so low, its purely disgraceful
I thought it was legal to use copyrighted content for educational purposes?
money money money money money money money money money…
Nothing else matters to them.
Tell those money whores to fuck off and die.
This shows that copyright is definitely not just about downloading. It is about controlling everyone regarding what people can do with their “products.”
Roze
http://www.28chan.org/
Don’t fine them! Jail them! They probably make way more than the fine, and won’t feel any pain if they are fined…
@4
Yes, I will gladly license your dick(s)
hell, we would occasionally watch Pirate dvds made by students at my school…
Aslong as you do it the dodgy way you’ll probably get away with it but if your declared to watch a DVD you have to pay constantly…
why is it PER child, why not pay 30 euros a year… it’s a piss take.
Toss the kids a digital hd video cam and let them shoot themselves something funny to view instead of watching those vomit covered, scratched and brainwashing hollywood poop dvd’s.
“an organization that acts in this manner could be fined or have its staff jailed.”
fuck yes.
haha what a bunch of tools. Watching movies in class as a child made me want to go to the movies and buy tapes. They’re alienating an entire generation of potential customers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zTPDVkVFOs
Hey, you should all send me 100$ on my paypal because you download copyrighed materials. In case you don’t, i’ll sue you. I represent all the hollywood, so i demand to get paid.
Damn, i’m going to be richer than Gates :D
But serious now, that’s sick!
Geez, this is utterly ridiculous if not criminal…. or apparently is actually was criminal..
j.
yay.. MLDC staff in prison ! that would be a great one ! they have my full support !
This is crazy! They are just kids for god sake!!
I can’t beleave this! Stupid media money loving poeple!
I hope every antipiracy company crashes and burns painfully!
Bakers will soon charge extra if you share your bread or cakes with friends
I wonder if they are shaking down the class pet for being in the same room the DVD is played in…
I cant imagine how poor Lemmiwinks will be able to raise money.
They should jail those kids, to prevent them from stealing copyrighted material in the future.
This is just not right, that they can watch disney’s cartoons for free while i have to pay !!
Hahahaha ;D
Now, for real – brainless Hollywood assholes should reeducate themselves with those kids. Maybe then they would not do such dumb things.
fin.
@mr. slave.
That pet better not be named after a disney movie!!
You don’t have to worry about bully kids stealing your kid’s lunch money any more. It’s bully lawyers.
Suing teenagers, dead people, and now CHILDREN?
They have no shame at all.
WTF was invented for shit like this.
I do not allow and I do not accept the MPLC to exist.
I heard the MPAA have a secret Childpr0n club within their board members. Explains their interest in children.
These people should be jailed, but I’m sure that the courts will be understanding (read:paid off) and let them off with a warning, this time!
Because next time they’ll have to pay a lot more to pay the judge off :)
this is pathetic.
so next i’m going to get sued for thumping music on the car stereo??
Or i like to have my tv turned up loud…
OH THE SHAME!!
OH THE HUMANITY!!
how dare i inflict my commercially written low bass notes on the general public. I must start living in a bubble, next thing they will copyright is your FACE, and your VOICE. how dare you inflict anything on anyone else because they have not paid to listen/watch it.
^^ not completely related to the article, but my rant nonetheless
Put the MPLC in jail. The fck’n scammers.
Around these parts, it’s become fashionable to make parents pay for anything extra when it comes to school.
Pity the teacher who would have to ask Johnny or Mary to go read a book because Hollywood thinks they are too poor. Or worse, have the other parents embarrass the kid being ‘charitable’ in his or her name.
It’s all so greedy and heartless. Way to go Hollywood, now I will never pay MY share.
And if they try that crap in my local School District, watch their crap get banned as ‘propaganda too expensive’ to justify the spending for. I mean, who really needs Michael Bay’s fu**ed up gong-show passing for history on the Second World War.
@ tido:
So it’s YOU! I don’t h8 you for copyright reasons. I hate you because your music is so shitty.
“Bakers will soon charge extra if you share your bread or cakes with friends.”
Naturally this would represent a lost sale. “$10,000 and off with his lips!”
I believe the phrase “like taking candy from a baby” would apply here if this had worked out for them. This is some of the lowest crap I’ve heard of.
I hope that the film industry does not have any links with my hospital’s ultrasound technology, or they might try to charge me for pictures of my unborn child…
Surely not… ;0)
“A spokesman from the IPO confirmed that an organization that acts in this manner could be fined or have its staff jailed.”
MPLC answer:
“that will never happen cause we’re MAFFIA . LOL ”
in reality , even mediasentry still ‘business as usual’ without license.
First dead people, then printers, and now preschoolers? Hollywood sounds like quite the pedo.
damn kindergarteners and there illegal dvd downloading…those kids should pay. hahaha hahaha haha
This is just pathetic though. Ireland should stick te the beer and potatoes.
gtfo my country, hollywood. In case you didn’t notice, this is pirate territory.
Soon they will start asking money from the dead too!
I think they are doing what they can to make money, since they are losing from filesharing hehehe
fags
*rolls eyes*
It’ll never work. The population is split in 2 here: the teenage/20something pirates with aries who refuse to buy anything they can get for free and the parents who wont pay for it. thank heaven it doesn’t affect the north.
Next they will demand 10% of the children’s lifetime earning for watching their dribble…
What next? A kids hospice?
filmgarbage.blogspot.com
Bastards. Just when you think Hollywood scum can’t sink any lower…..
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