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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Stopping pirates?

Vince Doran

Vince Doran

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I found another pirate copy of a documentary I produced recently that has not yet been released. Getting sick of this crap, is there any medium available for distribution that will stop them or make it hard for pirates to copy? I am having second thoughts about staying in the industry, well at least doing my own work with my own money, is it worth it? Should I get a lawyer and hunt these pirates down? I'm pretty sure (99%) I know who the pirates are and where they live.
Thieving dogs
 
Rule #1 of Piracy. The pirates always find a way.

The best you can do is offer your product in a more convenient format. Example: Netflix OnDemand offers instant streaming.
 
Well...you could lawyer up...but what are the legal fees going to cost you and are you sure you can 100% prove it?

If so...then yeah you could do that...

I thought Blu-Ray was going to help stop pirates because it had some sort of protection thing on it?

There was a discussion about this on some forum not too long ago, mostly about the UK gov trying to stop it and then realizing it would take too long etc. and some issues came up. Simply put, a lot of the forum members said that, they could go after the small time people but sometimes it isn't them but people leaching off their internet or even then, its just small time people. There are the bigger fish that supply those small people. Though tbh, its like the idea of the hydra, cut one head, two come back and so forth.

I don't think it will ever be stopped. I have to download videos because I can't get stuff from the states, when they use to sell iTunes US cards I would buy tv shows and movies but because of this BS wait time etc. around the globe, its just easier to download it when its released. That said, I don't believe in skimming off of small people. Usually they have a way of getting their product internationally available, self distribution in some cases, at which point I'd buy directly.

Basically.
Theres ethical points, unethical points about Pirating. Theres ways to catch and ways to stop. Though in the end, it never will be stopped.
 
Charles Angus said:
I don't personally believe that they are significantly eroding sales...
Click to expand...

Huh?
What if my documentary is airing 24/7 in a shop window as it is now and I havn't made a cent, why buy it when you can watch it for free anytime you like?
 
Vince Doran said:
What if my documentary is airing 24/7 in a shop window as it is now and I havn't made a cent, why buy it when you can watch it for free anytime you like?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you're missing out on a huge untapped market.

Myself and millions of people like me decide to watch shop windows instead of buying their own DVDs. Nobody watches a DVD in their own home anymore; it's not worth the $25 or whatever.

Shop-window-viewing has all sorts of benefits. The fresh air. The hard ground. The lack of audio. The weird stares from everyone walking by. What's not to like? By not paying for the DVD, there is plenty of money left over for things like popcorn, soda, and medical expenses after being forcibly removed by the shop owner.

I don't buy music, either; I just go to a shop door and setup a folding chair, listening to whatever music they have on inside. The convenience of carrying your music around with you on a portable device is overrated. I no longer need to buy music!

Also, whenever I need a car, I just go to the shop window and wait for the delivery truck to leave, then hop on the back and hope he's going somewhere close to where I want to go. I no longer have to buy a vehicle! I'm sure the car dealership will go out of business soon, if they haven't already.

:wink:
 
Real funny Daniel, I take it you don't produce your own stuff and if you do would you like this happening to you? Maybe you would change your attitude if it was your only source of income, but then again you sound like a wanker so maybe not.
 
Are they using it to demo TVs or something? Seems like a business opportunity. Cut them a legit trailer and tell them they either need to license your content or only play the trailer. Then encourage them to try and sell the DVD along with the TVs when it's released. Sounds like good exposure.
 
They are a plane charter mob involved in tourism to a remote island chain. They air my footage to get more asses on seats. 70% is filmed underwater with quite a few very rare shots.
Besides all that, I have never given them a copy nor planned to, so I feel a bit pissed off and it can be viewed on the street in comfort whilst drinking a beer from the pub next door whilst sitting at the pubs chairs and tables.
 
Perfect! Make sure each arse gets peddled a DVD to send to all their friends!

Those things are everywhere and they go for like $30 each. Make the back of the DVD case look like a postcard and each tourist will buy a stack to send to grandma and grandpa who couldn't come to see it for themselves.
 
Or you could just document proof they're using your work illegally, hire a lawyer and sue them into oblivion. Seems like an easy case to make.

In the US if it's a registered copyrighted work you can sue for damages, punitive and legal fees. Probably similar in Australia.
 
Vince... I share your frustration. Almost everything I have done has been copied, counterfeited or emulated since the very 1st handgrip back in 1976. There is even a guy who started selling RED Digital Cinema stickers on ebay (we just got him shut down).

The aggravation is enormous. The solutions are many, but never 100%... and mostly expensive. I grew up across the street from my best friend who became an attorney. That helped a lot. It took many years of lawsuits to be known as a badass in the sunglass industry before people even thought twice. While we collected millions of dollars in damages and shut down many copiers (even put people in jail in Taiwan, Mexico and China)... piracy is still a thriving business. Ugh.

RED Ray will address this in a fairly comprehensive way. Mostly because we hate piracy. You are not alone... the studios pull their hair out over this stuff if it makes you feel any better.

Jim
 
Thanks Gavin, I'm in the process of gathering enough proof which is easy enough, i have not registered it as copyright but I'm sure in Australia if you write.... copyright, your name, and year of release you are covered, (as I have done). They are definately doing this illegally and I'm wondering how many copies they may have sold on the side.
Thanks again
 
Jannard said:
RED Ray will address this in a fairly comprehensive way. Mostly because we hate piracy. You are not alone... the studios pull their hair out over this stuff if it makes you feel any better.

Jim
Click to expand...

Hey Jim-
One of you RED people mentioned this a while back also, and it got me to thinking. I'm kinda hoping that while RED Ray's main content will be locked up tight, that there will also be a suitable and easy to use method for distributing a digital copy on the medium. I know for a lot of my stuff, so long as people are buying a copy, I'm happy to provide another format that they can copy to their computer. I don't know about the technical, legal or otherwise hurdles involved here, but I'd like to know if you all had been thinking about this at all?
Peace,

-Harry
 
Thanks Jim, I'm just a small operator battling away wishing it was easier.
 
Vince Doran said:
Thanks Gavin, I'm in the process of gathering enough proof which is easy enough, i have not registered it as copyright but I'm sure in Australia if you write.... copyright, your name, and year of release you are covered, (as I have done). They are definately doing this illegally and I'm wondering how many copies they may have sold on the side.
Thanks again
Click to expand...

Maybe. IF you do that in the US you'll only be able to sue for damages. You have to officially register with the US Copyright office if you want to sue for punative damages. But that can be up to 18 months in the US after 'publication' seeing as you haven't released the DVD in the US your clock hasn't even started to register yet.

I would imagine seeing as the US and Australia have such similar copyright laws and identical lobbyists :sifone: your rules are probably similar. Hahaha. Again, I'm sure an attorney could explain in depth what your options are.

But personally I would be sure it's a good business decision and you aren't letting justice get in the way of a business opportunity. I've been on enough tourist planes/boats/automobiles to know that there's nothing those guys love more than to peddle wares at the end. If they're putting through several thousand passengers a year you might be throwing away a lot of lost business.
 
Yeah I hear what your saying Gavin, who knows how many though they will actually sell that are the ridgy didge real thing, at present it is from a VHS tape pirated over and over to DVD, I don't want people seeing such poor quality with my name attached. We did discuss a business option when I made a TV commercial for them, they said "NO not interested", it seems stealing it from someone else, burning it from VHS to DVD is a better financial decision........I want to take them down, there is no future business agreements to consider with said pirates.
 
Vince Doran said:
Yeah I hear what your saying Gavin, who knows how many though they will actually sell that are the ridgy didge real thing, at present it is from a VHS tape pirated over and over to DVD, I don't want people seeing such poor quality with my name attached. We did discuss a business option when I made a TV commercial for them, they said "NO not interested", it seems stealing it from someone else, burning it from VHS to DVD is a better financial decision........I want to take them down, there is no future business agreements to consider with said pirates.
Click to expand...

Oh well if you already approached them and they turned you down and THEN proceeded to show your work I hope you get an air travel company out of the settlement. Drive the scurvy dogs into the sea! :emote_hanged:
 
As Jim said, the Law is your friend... Especially in Australia where you can hit really hard if you know who it is... (and if you have some money for a letter or 2). I can introduce you to some good IP/Media lawyers in Sydney that have acted for me and represented a lot of small producers in Aus. Sometimes all it will take is a letter on a firm letterhead to scare someone to death from even considering infringing your IP. Especially since you seem to know who it could be.

Dont feel too bad though. The Last Ride with Hugo Weaving got downloaded 30,000 times since its DVD release last friday. The producers contacted one of my colleagues and were in utter disbelief. Youre not alone... But yeh, if i was you id be sending some letters/warnings then invoices out...
 
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