Movie Director Thrilled About Downloaders... But Producer Still Suing

from the left-hand,-meet-right-hand dept

Mon, Nov 26th 2007 4:58pm — Mike Masnick

Remember how some independent movie directors and producers were thrilled that people found their movies worthwhile to download? Well, here's a disturbing twist on those types of stories. TorrentFreak tells us about how the director of a popular Norwegian film is thrilled that people are downloading copies of his movie, and even admits that he uses BitTorrent to download stuff himself: "It's flattering that people are making copies of the movie and releasing it on the internet. Besides, all movies today are released onto the web. It would have been worse if no one wanted to share the movie." So what's the twist? The production company behind the movie is going after those people who were file sharing the movie, asking the police to file charges against 14 people accused of sharing the movie. Once again, it seems like the left-hand isn't paying attention to what the right-hand is doing.

Filed Under: downloads, movies

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Tortel, 26 Nov 2007 @ 6:39pm

Finally
At least part of the industry realizes that downloading movies isn't that bad, it shows that people do like it :P
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- Realist, 26 Nov 2007 @ 7:18pm
  
  Re: Finally
  It's bad if it constitutes a legitimate lost sale.
  
  The director got paid for his work. If he wants to also give the product away for free, he should probably finance his own movies, rather than using the money of producers who expect to be paid back for their investment.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2007 @ 9:45pm
    
    Re: Re: Finally
    The key word is "Independent". I know its a buzz word thats thrown around a lot now days, but if the guy is truly an independent director.. He did pay for it to be created. The production company on the other hand are third party middlemen, distributors. They don't own the copyright, nor own the film in question, they just have rights for distribution and promotion. Normally limited distribution in one geographic area or another.
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  - Danny, 27 Nov 2007 @ 5:59am
    
    Re: Re: Finally
    
    It's bad if it constitutes a legitimate lost sale.
    
    I am so glad you used if in that statement.
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Jeremy King, 26 Nov 2007 @ 6:42pm

Re: Movie Director Thrilled About Downloaders... B
Looking forward to the new age where creativity is free (as in freedom) for all to enjoy and the studios/production companies wither away and die!
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- Realist, 26 Nov 2007 @ 7:15pm
  
  Re: Re: Movie Director Thrilled About Downloaders.
  So, are you also looking to the new age where your work will also be done for free? Where one customer pays for the french fries you're making, but a dozen more just reach in and take 'em without paying?
  
  At least it shows they like your french fries, right?
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  - Mike (profile), 26 Nov 2007 @ 8:00pm
    
    Re: Re: Re: Movie Director Thrilled About Download
    So, are you also looking to the new age where your work will also be done for free?
    
    Why do people always trot out this tired line? No one is saying that work gets done for free. They're saying that the business models change and they still make money from other sources.
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Memorabilia, 26 Nov 2007 @ 9:29pm

@ #3
"So, are you also looking to the new age where your work will also be done for free? "

Funny thing, I remember when the star wars glasses at burger king were free, albeit that was 20 years ago.

How on earth did they make any money? All those foolish corperations like McDonalds and Burger King have gone the way of the dinasaur for "giving away" stuff that cost good money.
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xB45, 26 Nov 2007 @ 9:39pm

People that like a movie from a download might be more willing to make an effort to go buy that movie then they would if they hadn't seen the download. It's a fine line which has gotten finer.
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Neverhood, 27 Nov 2007 @ 12:13am

If you look closer it gets better
I followed the posts and comments on TorrentFreak.

Not only did the director send letters to TorrentFreak about how much he loved that people where downloading his movie. He also posted in the comments on the news about his letter, and rambled on about how people downloading his movie was hurting him financially and how he and his friends had spend all their money on the movie
Then he went on and said that everyone should donate money to him personally via his paypal account.

First everyone thought it was a scammer who tried to profit from the situation, but even more shockingly, the post turned out to be genuine.

Talk about double standards...

"It's so great that you download my movie and make it famous, but at the same time you should compensate me for the loss"
- eh, what?
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- PaulT (profile), 27 Nov 2007 @ 4:34am
  
  Re: If you look closer it gets better
  Nope, no double standard there at all.
  
  What he was saying is that the movie cost a lot of money to make, and while he's waiting for the distribution to go through and the marketing, etc. from the distributors who then need to sort out a DVD and international release, he and his friends still have to pay off interest on the loans and credit cards and whatever else used to fund the movie. At the moment, it's a limited, US-only theatrical release, so God knows how long it will take for it to become available on a ny kind of geenral release at cinemas or DVD and therefore make a profit.
  
  Since P2P is making the movie available to many more people than the movie would be available to at theaters, he's saying "if you enjoyed the movie, show your appreciation with some cash". He'd rather get a cash donation than have to wait for the DVD receipts. Yeah, he's getting fame from the press coverage and respect for making a good movie, but those aren't paying the bills. It's not hypocritical to ask for a little cash if you enjoyed his work.
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  - Neverhood, 27 Nov 2007 @ 5:56am
    
    Re: Re: If you look closer it gets better
    Well if what he said was "if you enjoyed the movie, show your appreciation with some cash" I would tend to agree, but what he actually said was first:
    
    "Thanks to everyone who has downloaded this torrrent and watched the film, our awareness level is through the roof. For that I say, “THANK YOU”!"
    
    and after that he posted a comment saying:
    
    "...you may have downloaded the film from one of the many torrent (or other) sites available. Chances are, you paid nothing to do so. But please understand that we are just some independent filmmakers who put everything we had into our little movie, and you really hurt us directly when you downloaded the movie illegally. [blah-blah-blah] Please send me money".
    
    If that is not double standards I don't know what is.
    
    He probably send copies of this to may downloading sites, but these quotes are from www.rlslog.net.
    Direct Link: http://www.rlslog.net/piracy-isnt-that-bad-and-they-know-it/comment-page-2/
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 27 Nov 2007 @ 7:07am

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Producer of 'independent' film sues director for putting movie on torrent site
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