Hurt Locker producers suing "Tens of Thousands" of downloaders.

[Niall!]

The production company behind the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker is gearing up to launch a massive lawsuit against "tens of thousands" of people who illegally downloaded the movie.

Voltage Pictures has hitched its wagon to the U.S. Copyright Group, which has already filed lawsuits over approximately ten other films including Far Cry, Call of the Wild 3D and Uncross the Stars. But lawyer Thomas Dunlap says The Hurt Locker suit, which is expected to be filed this week, will be much bigger than any of its previous litigation. "You can guess that relative to the films we've pursued already, the order of magnitude is much higher," he said.

The exact number of people being targeted by the lawsuit is unknown but Dunlap said he expects it to be in the "tens of thousands, if not more." And unfortunately for potential targets, three-quarters of the internet providers who have been subpoenaed have simply rolled over and cooperated; most of those who are resisting are doing so strictly because of the hassle involved in handing over thousands of customer names.

Downloaders will first be sent a settlement offer from the U.S. Copyright Group, which noted that about 40 percent of individuals have thus far chosen to settle earlier suits. Those who don't settle will receive a second offer and if that goes ignored, the full lawsuit will be served.

The Hurt Locker was a "great success on BitTorrent," according to TorrentFreak, particularly after it won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture. "The hurt locker" was the most-used search phrase on BitTorrent the day after the awards and the film has been downloaded more than ten million times, including three million since its big win in March. In spite of that, however, the film's U.S. box office was only $16.4 million.

Dunlap claimed that since news of the U.S. Copyright Group's lawsuits first broke, 20 to 30 independent film groups have expressed interest in signing on. His firm is also sending representatives to the Cannes Film Festival to discuss more lawsuits with other producers.


Source:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100629-Hurt-Locker-Producers-Suing-Tens-of-Thousands-of-Downloaders

[Fez]

The only way to fight piracy is to not fight it at all. Pirates are clever, you put in DRM or protection and they will crack it.

Make your products accessible, cheap and the rest is history.

[Caution]

I nearly downloaded this like 5 mins ago but I've used too much this month. :P

[hah]

was only 16.4million because no one had heard it before the oscars probably

[Stephen]

I downloaded it along with every movie that was released in the past 5 years

[Black_Apalachi]

So what exactly will happen to each individual who is found guilty?

[Misawa]

They will be forced to pay big money or go to prison.

My response: good.

[Black_Apalachi]

Like a £100 fine for example, or much worse? I haven't downloaded it, but the idea of how they can catch people out is just scary.

[Niall!]

Like a £100 fine for example, or much worse? I haven't downloaded it, but the idea of how they can catch people out is just scary.

Much much worse.

Other companies are doing the same thing.

Oh, and getting caught is VERY easy when using torrent programs. You share your IP with everyone currently uploading /downloading a torrent file you're downloading. Most companies have people that make note of these IPs by uploading a copy of their movie.

Tl;dr: Torrents aren't safe, use rapidshare.

Also Misawa, what's your stance on downloading it in the UK? Surely since it hasn't been released here and as far as I know, is never going to be, it's perfectly acceptable to download it?

[Stephen]

Obviously only going to be people in america who are screwed

[Hitman]

I've only ever downloaded 1 movie before about 2 years ago. I don't download much nowadays in fact, I even PAID for a genuine AVG licence!

[Misawa]

The Hurt Locker was released theatrically in the UK and is now on DVD and Blu-ray...

[Swastika]

Surely they cant get EVERY single user in the US that downloaded it?

[Jordy]

Much much worse.

Other companies are doing the same thing.

Oh, and getting caught is VERY easy when using torrent programs. You share your IP with everyone currently uploading /downloading a torrent file you're downloading. Most companies have people that make note of these IPs by uploading a copy of their movie.

Tl;dr: Torrents aren't safe, use rapidshare.

Also Misawa, what's your stance on downloading it in the UK? Surely since it hasn't been released here and as far as I know, is never going to be, it's perfectly acceptable to download it?Yeah it's definitely been released in the UK.

These lawsuits will make a lot of people stop downloading, of course it won't stop everyone pirating but I think it'll serve as a decent deterrent and punishment. Movie + Game companies are the harshest when it comes to illegal downloading.

[Niall!]

The Hurt Locker was released theatrically in the UK and is now on DVD and Blu-ray...

Hmm, I appear to be misinformed.

[Black_Apalachi]

Much much worse.

Other companies are doing the same thing.

Oh, and getting caught is VERY easy when using torrent programs. You share your IP with everyone currently uploading /downloading a torrent file you're downloading. Most companies have people that make note of these IPs by uploading a copy of their movie.

Tl;dr: Torrents aren't safe, use rapidshare.

Also Misawa, what's your stance on downloading it in the UK? Surely since it hasn't been released here and as far as I know, is never going to be, it's perfectly acceptable to download it?

How safe is Rapidshare in terms of viruses though? With torrent sites you can at least check out the comments etc left by others.

[Niall!]

How safe is Rapidshare in terms of viruses though? With torrent sites you can at least check out the comments etc left by others.

Safe enough if you know where to look.

[Browney]

They will be forced to pay big money or go to prison.

My response: good.

MISAWA. I'M FREAKING OUT HERE. I AGREE WITH YOU. ARGH!

Make films cheaper? Where do you expect them to get the money from? Expect special effects and general quality to be going backwards in which case.

[Neil]

To be honest I don't blame the tens of thousands that downloaded it, it's like £8 to go and see a movie in the cinema, £5 if you go on tuesdays, they're lucky enough to get the £5 I'm willing to pay to sit down for an hour and a half to be honest, sure I love movies and I wish to be a part of creating them but even I would understand why people are illegally downloading them, most forms of entertainment aren't even worth the money you pay half the time, I'm willing to pay £40 for a video game because a video game can get me upwards of 24 hours of entertainment in total, some cases even offer more but then you have movies and CDs selling at like £15 new, each often only lasting an hour or so at most, I generally aim to purchase the movies, music and TV shows I watch because you have to pay but generally I try get them when they're down at low prices because I don't agree with the prices of them, if I made a movie like The Hurt Locker which could guarantee me millions of buyers I would skip the cinema and just put it straight to DVD at a reasonable price, the entertainment industry is a greedy place and the only part of it I fully encourage is the video games section purely because of the value for money.

[Stephen]

I doubt they will do much. They are probably just trying to scare people tbh.

Oh and in reply to above........ INB4 MISAWA

[Black_Apalachi]

MISAWA. I'M FREAKING OUT HERE. I AGREE WITH YOU. ARGH!

Make films cheaper? Where do you expect them to get the money from? Expect special effects and general quality to be going backwards in which case.

There's an independent cinema we usually go to which is about a fiver a ticket (we get them a bit cheaper with our membership cards). However I went to the Odeon in Liverpool One the other day and had to pay seven British pounds for a far inferior cinema experience - I didn't even dare look at how much a bucket of popcorn would have been. If these big film makers want to tackle piracy, they need to sort out the cinema industry with its extortionate ticket and refreshment prices.

[Misawa]

Oh and in reply to above........ INB4 MISAWA

You what?

[Browney]

There's an independent cinema we usually go to which is about a fiver a ticket (we get them a bit cheaper with our membership cards). However I went to the Odeon in Liverpool One the other day and had to pay seven British pounds for a far inferior cinema experience - I didn't even dare look at how much a bucket of popcorn would have been. If these big film makers want to tackle piracy, they need to sort out the cinema industry with its extortionate ticket and refreshment prices.

Fair point, everyone hates those prices. However, I just mean in general. If you can see a film for £5 (as I can at my local cinema) then I don't think people have a leg to stand on when they say films should be cheaper. Odeon only charge such prices because they know people will pay. If people would go to smaller cinemas, like you, then Odeon would be forced to drop it's prices, to bring you in. It's not the film industry's fault, it's ours.