Hollywood Studios Sued For Pirating A Movie Script

Ernesto
August 4, 2011
98
copyright,
premium rush,
the ultimate rush
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Best-selling book author Joe Quirk is suing Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures because they allegedly ripped off the story from one of his books for their upcoming action movie Premium Rush. The author claims that the entire plot and several scenes were purposely copied from his book The Ultimate Rush, and he demands damages as well as a boycott of the film’s premiere.

Spearheaded by the MPAA, Hollywood’s major movie studios continuously emphasize how copyright infringement is costing them billions of dollars every year. Pirates are ruining the industry and are the direct reason for the loss of thousands of jobs, they claim.

However, the movie industry itself is no stranger to infringing on the rights of others. In fact, in 1902 Thomas Edison himself copied Georges Méliès’ film A Trip to the Moon without permission to show it in US theaters. This act of piracy eventually resulted in the bankruptcy of the French filmmaker.

In the century that followed, and even today, the movie industry is often accused of copyright infringement, most recently by the best-selling author Joe Quirk. Quirk published his first novel titled The Ultimate Rush in 1998, and recently found out that Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures are planning to release a new movie that appears to be copied from his work.

Aside from the titles, Quirk’s book and the upcoming film Premium Rush are strikingly similar, which prompted the author to start a lawsuit earlier this week.

“A comparison of THE ULTIMATE RUSH novel and a copy of the PREMIUM RUSH screenplay shows that PREMIUM RUSH is plagiarized in substantial part from Quirk’s novel, THE ULTIMATE RUSH,” the complaint filed at the U.S. District Court of California reads.

In addition to Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures, the lawsuit also targets the production company Pariah and screenplay writers John Kamps and David Koepp. All defendants are accused of several copyright-related offenses as they allegedly turned Quirk’s book into a movie script without permission.

The complaint includes two dozen pages littered with examples of similarities in the plot, characters, various scenes and even dialogues.

The Ultimate Rush vs. Premium Rush

rush

Through the lawsuit Joe Quirk hopes to be compensated for damages the alleged pirating of his book by the prominent movie studios have and will cost. The author also seeks a halt to the distribution of the film and all related materials.

Quirk further seeks to recover all profits that the movie studios will make from the “unlawful exploitation” of his book.

Premium Rush has finished filming and is currently in the post-production stage. The film is scheduled to be released on January 13 next year, but it’s now up to the District Court to decide whether this will go ahead.

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http://twitter.com/unusedcrayon Bear

This story makes me very happy, good to see the people who promote copyright so much are getting hurt by the laws they support.
Copyright is a double ended sword.
- Him
  
  hurt by the laws they support.
  
  more like:- hurt by the laws they write
  
  hope payback comes. it would be sweet!
- The Matt`
  
  This is what copyright was meant for – an industrial regulation so that big publishers couldn’t give the shaft to authors, and appropriate their work without compensating them.
  
  You know, back when it was impractical for your ordinary member of the public to make massive numbers of copies of anything, so no-one needed to worry about them distributing it on any scale, and there was a real scarcity market for copies because you couldn’t make one easily.
  
  How things change… how laws fail to.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
    
    Unfortunately, I don’t see how this can go smoothly for Joe. This is a transformative work.
    
    He mistakenly believes that the book is a plagiarization when copyright law is all about execution of an idea. Moral rights aren’t covered in copyright law. Yes, Hollywood has lost these types of lawsuits before, but it will still be very difficult to have a judge agree that harm was done when the two (book and movie) are in entirely different markets.
    - Liam
      
      No, but it affects his ability to sell it into that market a portion of his book revenue would have come from a movie deal.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
  
  Can Joe Quirk order a domain seizure and seize the domain of the MPAA?
Arb

Double edge sword.
But it is funny they are so much against piracy when they themselves are some the biggest violators of the law’s they spent so much $$ to enforce
- Me
  
  It’s actually “double edged” if you’re gonna go correcting ppl! :)
http://profiles.google.com/warpchy Jeffrey Wu

They could’ve approached the author and paid him a pittance to make a fill off his work like they do for every other book they use out there instead of trying to get away with it. Cause they have legit asshole ways to do this.
Momo

See, THIS is what copyright was intended for. People say copyright is a double-edged sword — it shouldn’t be. It was intended to only cut THIS way.
Momo

See, THIS is what copyright was intended for. People say copyright is a double-edged sword — it shouldn’t be. It was intended to only cut THIS way.
- Anonymous
  
  Yes this is exactly what copyright is for. To stop rich powerful organizations from exploiting the little guy for profit.
  
  File sharing is very different. It is like borrowing a friend’s book to read. If you like it you may buy your own copy or more from that author. If you don’t like it then just hand it back. No greed, no money, no exploitation, only the niceness of sharing what you enjoy with friends.
  
  Those who do attack file sharing can find copyright comes back to bite them. Even an accidental link to some other person’s work can leave you sued and bankrupt. They say there are no new ideas any more. So what does that say for copyright?
  - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
    
    That. I’m waiting to see the copywrong Trolls ideas on this. I’ll be reading the rest of the comments but I have a feeling they’ll remain silent.
  - Friend of the People
    
    Ok Ninja, if you’re going to call me out, I’ll respond.
    
    First, one thing; copyright is meant to determine who can and can’t produce copies of a piece of culture. This does serve the purpose of protecting small artists and researchers from organizations that would appropriate their work, but it also serves the purpose of allowing them to determine who can and can not make copies of their work. With that in mind, let’s examine what filesharing is.
    
    Filesharing isn’t like borrowing a friend’s book to read because filesharing produces a new copy of something. When you borrow a book from a friend, the immediate net result is that he has one less book and you have one more book. That’s distribution of a physical object, and that’s something that artists rightly have no control over.
    
    However, after filesharing, the net result is that you have one more digital book, and your friend has the same number of digital books. You produced a copy of the book. That’s the crucial difference in filesharing. Copyright only gives the artist the right to determine who can and can not produce copies, and that’s what filesharing violates.
    
    A good example of this would be a library. A library can stock books, movies, whatever, but they only loan out their copies. They never produce any copies. Interestingly enough, some libraries (or at least mine) have started online lender programs, where they buy a certain number of digital books and don’t lend out more digital books at any one time than they have bought.
    
    I also object to the implication that filesharing happens between “friends” instead of people who never have met each other and never will, but that’s unimportant.
    
    Finally, you are right that by attacking filesharers. artists can be attacking their most loyal fans (although I remain skeptical about how much the majority of filesharers actually spend), but that’s their choice to make. Some artists, like Lady Gaga, don’t care, and those wishes should be respected, but many artists (probably noting that no artists (that I know of) have risen to true prominence on filesharing), choose to disallow piracy, and those wishes should be respected too.
    - Plop
      
      “Some artists, like Lady Gaga, don’t care, and those wishes should be respected, but many artists (probably noting that no artists (that I know of) have risen to true prominence on filesharing), choose to disallow piracy, and those wishes should be respected too.”
      
      Just to counter this, Lady Gaga rather famously has disallowed Weird Al Yankovic from using one of her tracks (despite it being legal under US ‘fair use’ laws – it’s a parody), which would suggest she’s not completely in favour of sharing… but this is perhaps obfuscation as they’re two different topics really.
      
      I’m not sure if you’re aware of a band from the UK called Arctic Monkeys, but they rose to true prominence on the back of filesharing and word-of-mouth from MySpace users. They’d already established themselves a huge underground following and were touring extensively before labels and/or the mainstream media paid any attention to them.
      
      Many artists are either indifferent to piracy or actually in favour of it (I, for one, am). There are many documented artists’ opinions about piracy on http://pirateverbatim.com it’s an interesting site and has turned me away from those artists who oppose piracy. OK, I’ll respect their wishes and not pirate their music, but neither will I ever buy anything from them again – that’s a lost sale right there! ;)
    - Plop
      
      “Some artists, like Lady Gaga, don’t care, and those wishes should be respected, but many artists (probably noting that no artists (that I know of) have risen to true prominence on filesharing), choose to disallow piracy, and those wishes should be respected too.”
      
      Just to counter this, Lady Gaga rather famously has disallowed Weird Al Yankovic from using one of her tracks (despite it being legal under US ‘fair use’ laws – it’s a parody), which would suggest she’s not completely in favour of sharing… but this is perhaps obfuscation as they’re two different topics really.
      
      I’m not sure if you’re aware of a band from the UK called Arctic Monkeys, but they rose to true prominence on the back of filesharing and word-of-mouth from MySpace users. They’d already established themselves a huge underground following and were touring extensively before labels and/or the mainstream media paid any attention to them.
      
      Many artists are either indifferent to piracy or actually in favour of it (I, for one, am). There are many documented artists’ opinions about piracy on http://pirateverbatim.com it’s an interesting site and has turned me away from those artists who oppose piracy. OK, I’ll respect their wishes and not pirate their music, but neither will I ever buy anything from them again – that’s a lost sale right there! ;)
    - Friend of the People
      
      I had heard about that with Lady Gaga, but I do know she’s gone on record as allowing piracy for her fans. That’s where I get it from.
      
      I hadn’t heard about the Arctic Monkeys, but it does make for an interesting case. However, they are still the exception. Labels, for all their faults, still have a higher success rate than internet-based marketing. That may change in the future, but for now, that is the reality. Aside from that, I also haven’t heard of any really successful movies distributed this way, although that could once again be my own ignorance.
      
      If artists don’t care about piracy, then they can allow it. If they do care, they can use the law. If that loses them customers. well, that’s the free market at work. The market will either reward or punish them for their choice, but it’s still their choice to make. I’ve avoided making purchases from organizations that donate to anti-homosexual causes in the past, so I understand the sentiment.
    - Plop
      
      You make a valid point and I’m in agreement, that ultimately it’s up to the artists (or it should be – in reality it’s up to the labels for the most part) to make the choice. But the fact that the Arctic Monkeys are the minority also shows how sewn up the whole mainstream media publicity machine really is.
      
      With very few exceptions (the late John Peel for instance, or maybe people like Andy Kershaw) most DJs on the UKs biggest mainstream non-commercial radio station (and public service broadcaster) – BBC Radio 1 – stick stolidly, at the risk of losing their job, to the prescribed playlist. The Radio 1 playlist is almost exclusively major label detritus of the highest order which the labels pay the BBC handsomely to promote for a good two or three months solid prior to actual release of a record.
      
      That kind of lockout for anyone other than a manufactured X-Pop-Factor-Idol kind of mainstream act means that the only place independents are likely to be heard is through underground channels such as torrents/sharing. The number of actual downloads of X-Pop-Factor-Idol acts probably outstrips indie artists simply because people are more likely to have heard of them via those mainstream outlets. I’m sure if the public service broadcaster was actual FORCED to play independent music at peak times alongside the banal major label wallpaper then you’d see many more success stories from indie artists who had grown their following and presence as a direct result of torrent/sharing distribution methods.
      
      Personally I’ve managed to pick up gigs across Europe through online services allowing me to network with people I’d never have encountered had it not been for sharing. My music has been played on radio stations in Moscow! Not bad to say I’d never even made any effort to push anything into the Russian ‘market’… it simply got there through word of mouth. I’m sure I’m not the only musician who’s benefitted from online muso networks. Even if you’re not seeing us appear in the charts (beats me why anyone would want to be in those charts anyway), it doesn’t mean we’re not achieving varying levels of success in other areas thanks to the sharing spirit. Most of us wouldn’t get far beyond our hometown audiences with the traditional model, no matter how good we may be – because the old model of labels signing artists also meant that only a few artists ever got signed and if your music was a bit ‘wacky’ or ‘different’ you didn’t stand a chance.
      
      I’ve noticed labels widening their scope in more recent years with the occasional oddball band. That’s probably a reaction to the obvious hunger from the audiences for something different and the growing number of underground artists bobbing along quite happily without a major label’s help thanks to the internet.
      
      The ‘next big craze’ has always come from the underground – it usually takes a few years for the music BUSINESS to notice and jump onboard. See: Rock n Roll, Punk, Acid House for good past examples. They all rose from the street without the help of major labels ;)
    - Frank Copeland
      
      @Plop,
      
      Technically, It was one of Gaga’s people that disallowed Al’s use of the song, and when she found out, she immediately allowed it.
      
      http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/gaga-update/
Guest

every single person who watches this movie equals a potential loss for the book author and should be compensated with 100% of the books price per movie ticket sold.
- Him
  
  and dont forget the statutory damages as well!
  - Yarick
    
    The damages should also take into the account the movie studios stance on copyright infringement as of late and subject them to harsh fines. Indeed they should actually be so absurdly beyond the movie studios ability to pay as to bankrupt them for the rest of their lives. Just like all the people they’ve been suing.
    - Aussie bob
      
      I think an amount relative to the amount they ask in relative income they ask from their claims would be fitting.
      
      so in Aus average annual income is about 40k they ask for 200k so thats 5 years income by their… what do they earn per year? 500 mil? so 2.5 bil should be about right.
    - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
      
      That. Based on their [MAFIAA] ridiculous lost sales claims they should be sued for one billion gazillion dollars. Since it’s a disproportionate amount then it’ll be reduced to something near 10 times the monthly income.
- Guest
  
  How about those watching a trailer? XD
Guest

every single person who watches this movie equals a potential loss for the book author and should be compensated with 100% of the books price per movie ticket sold.
Nano Marble

Just a few thoughts from me here…

1/ Was the book a big seller ?
2/ if it wasn’t/isn’t then would damages or monetary refunds be based on sales of book ?
3/ If the book is pants and nobody bought it or has ever heard of it then would it be possible to assume the guy will make a shed of cash from this publicity !
4/ is it in 3D ? [sic]

Obviously they have more than likely ripped his book off and no doubt will settle out of court but unless they actually release the movie then how would he be liable to receive any profit made from it ? no release equals no profit or am i missing something…

It’s always great to see the companies that preach in a whiter than white and Holier than thou way to everyone else get a really good kick in the teeth for doing what they accuse everyone else of doing.

It really has been a bad year for Sony :( ha ha ha ha and i mean that with every tear of laughter exiting my tear ducts.

Hopefully i can get it in digital form [the book] for my own private use and legally share it with my extremely large family…
- We have a winner
  
  Best-selling Author
  - Donotreply
    
    Agreed (+1 or whatever flavor the net has atm).
    
    According to the Authors own website it is ‘a Boston Globe bestseller’
    
    http://www.joequirk.com/Sample_8.html
    The rest of the page is a sample of the book, and I can see from my quick skim over it why Sillywood wanted to make a movie out of it.
    
    Amazon online web store has it here:
    http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Rush-Joe-Quirk/dp/0312969023
    
    I could not get a numeral figure on how many copies sold but it mentions ‘Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #177,715 in Books ‘
    
    In short, a claim on statutory damages having a small amount would not come from a low sales figure or much weight in claims of anonymity/obscurity of the author.
http://twitter.com/AlyssaBlindy Alyssa Blindy

Hmmm. This is quite interesting and I agree that copyright was really only meant for things like this, where the following condition is met:
A commercial work has been created from a piece of intellectual property without the permission of the author.
http://twitter.com/AlyssaBlindy Alyssa Blindy

Oh yes, one more condition. Copyright infringement has also occurred if:
A work is being profited on without permission from the author of the work.
- Drunkard
  
  Advertising is “profit” according to lobbyers so any and every website would not be allowed to have anyones work regardless of license on their page website or in real life stores, markets or anywhere else where advertising might exist. Not much is needed to nudge copyright enough that it ruins the modern society.
http://Twitter.com/elisaknockout Elisa ? Knockout™

Ha awesome funny when mpaa can claim copyright infringement!! But they do the same thing.
- Scary Devil Monastery
  
  I advise a swift googling on “CRIA lawsuit”. The canadian version of the RIAA were exposed to have exploited and sold some hundreds of thousands of tracks over a period of 20 years while steadfastly refusing to compensate the artists involved. According to their own damage claim policy that would have left them bleeding for 6 billion dollars.
  
  I believe they chose to quietly settle out of court and pay out a few hundred million to the most strident artists.
  
  That policy, incidentally, is pursued by the RIAA and the MPAA as a matter of course as well so personally I’m just waiting for the next class-action lawsuit to hit the copywrong industry…
  - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
    
    And these corrupt folks are actually writing new draconian laws. Oh wait, politicians are corrupt too.
  - Busterbrown7077
    
    “That policy, incidentally, is pursued by the RIAA and the MPAA as a matter of course as well so personally I’m just waiting for the next class-action lawsuit to hit the copywrong industry… ”
    
    The US Supreme Court’s recent ruling against the class of female Walmart employees (they ruled they could not be considered a class) would prevent a US based class-action lawsuit against the MPAA, RIAA or any other large conglomerate on behalf of, say, a group of separate and distinct artists.
    
    Don’t hold your breath. Or if u do, have a pillow handy.
  - Kropotkin
    
    Same thing happened in Belgium. The copyright guarddog was sentenced to pay compensation a year or 2 ago… still they didn’t pay and are acting selfrightious. :(
  - Kropotkin
    
    Same thing happened in Belgium. The copyright guarddog was sentenced to pay compensation a year or 2 ago… still they didn’t pay and are acting selfrightious. :(
robson

Mr. Quirk, rest assured I will pirate this movie the moment it becomes available on torrent trackers!
- dude
  
  It really will make no difference whether you pirate the movie or not.
  - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
    
    Yes it will. It’s for the lulz man, lighten up ;)
Sheepdogfc

I think sony pictures should be forced to host this film on bittorrent and for every download pay the author the price of the book…
Guest

One word: Hipocrisy.
Jean Chicoine

For those who are interested, here’s page on Joe Quirk:
http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/joe_quirk.php
Michael Chorost

I’m delighted to see this lawsuit. The creative work of an author must be fairly compensated. Sony and Columbia’s theft was truly egregious — it was obvious, naked, wholesale theft of the entire plot and all of the main characters without a dime to the author who labored for years to write the novel. As a fellow writer I’m outraged by their behavior and I can’t wait for Joe Quirk to get justice.
- http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
  
  That makes two of us although I’m not a writer. The bright side is that he got free marketing of his book, I might take a look (and eventually buy if it’s the case).
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1697303263 Pt Nguyen

What goes around come around!
What goes up must go down!

IRONYYY :)
- Zzzz
  
  What goes around, comes around.
  You should try swinging.
  What goes up must come down,
  You definitely should try swinging.
Anon

it’s copyright for you but copy’right’ for us
- Anon
  
  or emphasize it more, copy’rights’ for us =P
Zzzz

This is why we need copyright legislation.
We need to stop people pretending they devised something after our utterly amazing and extremely talented people obviousy did it first.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UJ4XRIA3A3E6MYGK755EGWLN4Q Dani A

now lets just hope this works out… with how bad our legal system is lately, it is far from a sure thing. :
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UJ4XRIA3A3E6MYGK755EGWLN4Q Dani A

now lets just hope this works out… with how bad our legal system is lately, it is far from a sure thing. :
Lulz

No industry trollz here today?
- Anonymous
  
  Have you ever seen any of them on an article where the industries are in the wrong? I don’t think I have. And I’ve been here awhile. They always seem to disappear when the shoes on the other foot. But rest assured, if this was about a file sharer getting sued for pirating a script they’d be out in force.
  - Friend of the People
    
    Ok, If I really must…
    
    Hopefully justice will be done here. If the author’s claims are legitimate, then he has every right to sue and take them for tons of lootz.
    
    Infringments are wrong, no matter who does them. The industries are just as capable of wrongdoing as the individuals, and must be held to the standards of law, just like individual infringers should be.
  - Friend of the People
    
    Ok, If I really must…
    
    Hopefully justice will be done here. If the author’s claims are legitimate, then he has every right to sue and take them for tons of lootz.
    
    Infringments are wrong, no matter who does them. The industries are just as capable of wrongdoing as the individuals, and must be held to the standards of law, just like individual infringers should be.
    - Anonymous
      
      Come on Friend, you don’t count into the group I meant. You’re a reasonable and alright guy. I like what you said, but I think we both know that they won’t be held to the same standards as individual infringers. They’ll make some kind of deal to get this guy off their case, throw a little money at him, and move on. While continuing to preach that copyright infringement is wrong and all who engage in it are morally bankrupt criminals that are killing the various industries. There’s a double standard and they’re hypocrites. It’s wrong when you do it to them, when they do it to you it’s no biggie.
      
      On a completely unrelated topic, I was at work yesterday and had Pandora going on my Nook Color. Had a Chuck Berry station going, out of nowhere The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” came on. Remembered you had mentioned it that one time, I started cracking up. How it went from some serious Chuck Berry and related stuff to The Archies I have no clue, but it made me laugh.
    - Friend of the People
      
      It’s true that they probably won’t be held to the same standards as individuals. That’s a legitimate problem, and one I’d really like to see lawmakers address. If they do put up a legal defense, I’ll look into donating some money to a legal fee for him (although I’ve heard that he’s a best-selling author, so I’m not sure if that will be a necessity for him). I do look forward to the ruling though. A case like this should have enough publicity to bring the problems with corporate standards to light.
      
      On a note related to something else we’ve discussed earlier, I’ve actually seen my library start up an online branch. They keep a certain number of online copies, and only give out a number equal to the number of copies they have purchased, and the system has been endorsed by our city council.
      
      By some odd coincidence, I’ve actually been hearing Sugar Sugar a ton lately. I’ve been hearing a bunch of great music on the radio lately, but it seems like every time something like Don’t fear the Reaper plays, I also get to hear either Sugar Sugar or Baby, and it drives me bonkers. I have heard a bunch of good stuff lately though. Found a group of Poets of the Fall that I would heartily recommend. Torrent some of their stuff and see (they said it’s ok… I think).
    - Lulz
      
      “I do look forward to the ruling though.” – Never happen… It’ll get settled for an undisclosed amount behind the scenes. Good shit always does.
    - Friend of the People
      
      Yeah, you’re right. Didn’t think about that.
      
      Well then… I’m not sure that there’s really anything to look forward to here. It won’t be publicized enough to be a deterrent to others… doesn’t look like there’s progress to be made.
      
      Pity.
    - Anonymous
      
      Well, I look forward to seeing how this turns out. Assuming it gets beyond any kind of closed room deal, it should bring about the necessary publicity to shed some light on the actions of the various industries.
      
      As per the library, you’re lucky. None of my local libraries have started that up yet. I do look forward to the day they start an online branch up. I’m not sure how e-reader/table sales are doing locally. I know I see them in stores, but I’ve never seen anyone use one in public. I have a Nook Color I carry with me pretty much everywhere and whenever I take it out people stare at me and ask about it. Laptops, iPods (and their assorted offerings), and smartphones I see everywhere. But no e-readers/tablets, the only people I know who have one are major techies and that’s only a handful of people I personally know. Sigh. Guess it’ll be awhile before we get a digital library.
      
      Lol. Odd coincidence indeed. You certainly live in an interesting area. Our local stations, even the oldies one, don’t play anything like that. If I want to hear a true variety of music I have to tune in to stations farther away. My truck for some strange reason can pick up the rock stations from Corpus Christi and Laredo. And only the rock stations. I did manage a quick check and Poets of the Fall have a channel on Youtube. I’m having connection problems right now, but I’ll look into their music when I have a chance and have figured out what’s wrong with my router/connection.
    - Scary Devil Monastery
      
      There’s a difference between a legitimately concerned pro-copyright advocate and the type of dyslexic troll we usually see around here, Friend.
      
      I personally believe that copyright is deeply flawed as the very premise is one far more easily exploitable by the very organizations it was originally meant to block, meaning in the end it merely becomes another threat to the individual creator.
      
      You don’t. Fair enough, that’s an opinion. After that comes the inescapable fact that actual enforcement of copyright in any form requires the abolishment or severe curtailing of civil rights. That’s where the system breaks. If a copyright system must be in place then that system can not be upheld at the legal level but must originate from the average Joe in the street. And that bloke usually has big problems wrapping his head around why he shouldn’t be allowed to make a copy for private use.
      
      That’s why paternity rights work and creative commons is becoming popular. Everyone can get on board with the idea that the most important part is the creator should get his due credit for his creation. Literally no one can understand the concept of “owning” an idea which has been published.
    - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
      
      Reasoned person you are my Friend!
      
      I’ll agree with almost all your points except that non-commercial file sharing should be exempted from copyright. There you go ;)
    - Friend of the People
      
      @Monastery
      
      The system does have some serious problems, such as the horrible fines that get attached to filesharing in the name of “deterrance”. No argument there. I’m still of the opinion that a reform of the current system will work better, but this thread is getting long, so we can discuss those reasons later.
      
      If artists choose creative commons, then more power to them. As far as I’m concerned, the two important parts of copyright are the right to be acknowledged as the creator of your work, and the right to determine who can and can’t make copies of your work. If they choose to open either of those rights to the public, then that’s their choice to make. I’m just against modifying the laws to a point where that choice is not given to them, as some argue for.
      
      I’m just here because I’m concerned for the future of entertainment, and I don’t think a system based on filesharing will produce good results. But, I suppose we’ll see. Society is certainly going that way, so it looks like all of our ideas will be put to the test.
      
      Well, off to work now. Good day gentlemen.
Guest

All these corporate parasites:

Let’s kill them all!
Predator

If Sony get charged the amount the RIAA pretended charging Jamie Tomas and Tenembraum per copy distributed that would definitively bankrupt Sony!

Too bad Joe Quirk did not wait for the movie to be distributed to start the lawsuit!
- http://natanael.posterous.com/ Natanael L
  
  No, MORE, since this is commercial piracy.
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Rummler

What a bunch of dicks. I hope they get pounded in the ass on this one.
Rummler

What a bunch of dicks. I hope they get pounded in the ass on this one.
Tshamika

“Thomas Edison himself copied Georges Méliès’ film A Trip to the Moon without permission to show it in US theaters. This act of piracy eventually resulted in the bankruptcy of the French filmmaker.”

I never knew Thomas Edison was a filmmaker and he went bankrupt. Usually what they tell us is that he invented the light bulb. I heard however he died a poor man a few times though because he was crazy supposedly and didn’t have any way to keep $ coming in.
- Anonymous
  
  Edison had a habit of trying to destroy his competitor’s. I believe it was Paramount Pictures (as well as a few others) that got it’s birth from one of his competitors, who he tried to drive out of business by banding together with others in the film industry and forcing them to use only certain cameras and various other things. He also essentially stole most of Tesla’s work and then went about slandering him in public and forcing him to spend what money he did have in court. Although, in the end, the rumor is that on Edison’s deathbed his final words were “My only regret was sticking with DC (direct current).” Something along those lines, as that’s not an exact quote but off the top of my head.
  - Paul789
    
    Edison was a crook and a narcissus, his place in history is undeserved, he should be remembered as nothing more than the monster who tried to steal the true genius of Tesla.
    - Anonymous
      
      Hey man, you’re preaching to the choir. I’m in agreement with you. Edison was a b*stard and Tesla is relegated to an almost non-existent roll in history. But he’s the true genius and inventor behind quite a few things we ourselves take for granted. I mean come on, the man discovered the resonant frequency of the planet itself and caused an earthquake in New York. After his death, the FBI went to the hotel room he was staying in at the time and took all his papers just because of the fact that they believed he actually did have info there on some kind of “death ray”. That is some seriously awesome sh*t right there.
    - http://twitter.com/icanhazsake Ninja
      
      Tesla fan club is admitting new fans ;)
      
      Agreed. Plain awesome. Maybe MAFIAA has some Edison sculptures on their rich headquarters?
- fraseralbie
  
  You idiot it’s the French film maker who went bankrupt
Anonymous

IT is not “pirating” you fucking idiots. it is plagiarizing.

The fact that you don’t know the difference is not surprising given all your dumb ass articles on pirating.
- http://natanael.posterous.com/ Natanael L
  
  Well, the industry don’t seem to know the difference either. If it’s violating copyright laws it’s piracy to them. Or even if it’s not, but they think it should be.
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http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-4-new-skins-themes-launches/740147-neurotech-hd.html#post5637502 Jay

Ho and Venessa sound like real classy chicks.
PlatinumC

After reading this news, I haven’t been so happy for weeks, and I just finally got payed today after being unemployed for 6 months :P.
Anonymous

And these are the guys that want us sent to prison for piracy on a not for profit basis guess they should be treated the same.
random person

karma’s a bitch
Thetruthbeknown

All of you should be hailing the movie company as a hero. They are simply doing what all of you do and defend every day—ignoring copyright law.
- Hoho
  
  yopu expect anything but double standards from a bunch of thieves? no honor among ‘em, it’s said.
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bryanbeast

yo this isnt copying it’s just that all messengers love it cuz its dangerous and squeezing between shit and not getting doored is the classic skills move. and everbody like hot girls with tattoos because their hot and have tattoos
ner0

It seems they are doing it on purpose. Couldn’t they be plagiarizing on purpose with the objective of gaining argument in other cases?
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no respect for others today

Oh yeah, the big guys in the film industry steal from writers and small people all the time… but that doesn’t make it right to steal from all the industry. There are small companies like my own – a one-man company – that literally are feeding families by giving people work, not to mention paying my own rent. No way Im going to accept someone wanting to read or watch my material without paying for it – hell no.

You want free information… fine… what the hell does entertainment have to do with information?
Long Ben Avery

Pariah, very appropriate name!
Long Ben Avery

Pariah, very appropriate name!
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Fllfthm5

How do we know Joe didn’t steal from the movies ‘Quicksilver’ and ‘Big Trouble in Little China’? His story seems like a an amalgam of both to me.
Fllfthm5

How do we know Joe didn’t steal from the movies ‘Quicksilver’ and ‘Big Trouble in Little China’? His story seems like a an amalgam of both to me.

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