Ashton Kutcher, Lionsgate Play Up 'Pirating' Own Film As Part Of Promotion Stunt

from the double-standards dept

Tue, Jun 1st 2010 1:19pm — Mike Masnick

The Hollywood Reporter is scolding actor Ashton Kutcher and Hollywood studio Lionsgate for a weak promotion for their new movie, Killers. Apparently, Kutcher has been going around telling everyone that he likes the movie so much he's going to "pirate" the film and put it online. First he tweeted the following:

I'd like 2 invite U to the premiere of Killers. June 1 I'm going live 2 the web & Pirating the 1st 10 min of Killers from the premiere

From there, he apparently went on The Ellen DeGeneres show and said something similar:

"I love it. I like the movie so much I'm going to show it online, on the web, I'm going to pirate the first 13 minutes of the movie."

Since then he's made a number of similar statements in his Twitter feed, suggesting that he's going to broadcast those 13 minutes straight from the theater at the premier. Of course, as THR points out, this is all a publicity stunt by Lionsgate, previewing the first 13 minutes of a film -- something that a bunch of films have done in the past, especially when a studio doesn't think the film will get very good reviews. THR's chiding is silly, complaining about how calling this "piracy" is some sort of insult to people in the movie industry:

Probably not so awesome for anyone who works in the worldwide antipiracy community. Or the people who have been laid off recently from the studio home video divisions because sales have plummeted in part due to rampant online theft.

As if the film wouldn't find its way online otherwise? As if the problem has something to do with this more efficient distribution system, rather than an inability of the industry to adapt.

However, what I found really telling about the whole thing isn't the "poor choice of words," but how the industry appears to have this total double standard on the issue. One day it will claim that camcording a movie is absolutely destroying the industry, and that tough new laws are needed to put people in jail... and the next day it will play up the fact that its going to bogusly pretend to "camcord" one of its own movies and release it (or, the first few minutes of it) online. Like Viacom insisting that YouTube is destroying its business, while surreptitiously trying to upload its own videos in a way that looked "pirated," the industry says one thing and does another all the time.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: ashton kutcher, movies, promotions
Companies: lionsgate

18 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Ccomp5950 (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 12:53pm

Weren't these guys trying to make it a felony (did they succeed?) I think someone needs to let the DA in on such criminal behavior and have someone put behind bars.

Live by the lobbying, die by the lobbying...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Dementia (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 1:24pm
  
  Re:
  Better yet, can't they all just die already.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
weneedhelp (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 1:31pm

boo F'in whoo
"Or the people who have been laid off recently from the studio home video divisions"

Whaaa whaaa.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Karl (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 1:44pm

Good...?
Hypocrisy aside, this is at least a step in the right direction. Maybe if they do enough "stunts" like this, they'll drop the whole "piracy is evil" spiel and start to actually do something smart.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Eugene (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 1:48pm

"However, what I found really telling about the whole thing isn't the "poor choice of words," but how the industry appears to have this total double standard on the issue."

Well I think part of that comes from the fact that "Hollywood" isn't actually a single entity, or even a collection of like-minded people. It's a collection of very random people whose job is to create something incredibly subjective. So when they're portrayed as a single entity by, well, basically everyone (including themselves, often by those members who aren't aware they're part of the group or how the group works, though sometimes it's a self-aware misrepresentation), then yeah, they look like they're full of double-standards. Because they're actually full of people who fundamentally disagree with each other, but are too passive-aggressive to ever admit it. :p
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- ScottEllington, 1 Jun 2010 @ 2:05pm
  
  Re: It's in the Eugenes
  THAT explanation was exceptionally beautiful!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hephaestus (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 2:02pm

I have an Idea ....
Funny Thought, Could We Get Ashton Kutcher, and Ellen DeGeneres Arrested after they post this online? They are saying they are pirating it, and video taping it in the theater ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Karl (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 4:11pm
  
  Re: I have an Idea ....
  Actually, yes, we could. Kutcher and DeGeneres don't hold any rights to the movie, and because of the ART Act, videotaping a film in the theater is a criminal offence.
  
  If that happened, it would be hilarious.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Hephaestus (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 5:58pm
    
    Re: Re: I have an Idea ....
    "If that happened, it would be hilarious."
    
    Who cares if they get busted ...
    
    If the studios fail to press charges we ask why. One question does this require the studio to press charges or is this something one could walk into a grand jury as a private citizen and file?
    
    If they declare it a publicity stunt we point this out to the guys on the YouTube side of the youtube viacom lawsuit. ... every studio does the same thing viacom did, and you expect us to magically know whats infringing ...
    
    If someone else gets caught video taping this film in a theater, we point their lawyers to Ashton Kutcher, and Ellen DeGeneres. The two of them are fine with pirating the movie and posting it online. If they back out and dont post 10 and 13 minute respectively who cares ... they put the thought in the head of the poor defenseless dweeb that did get caught.
    
    That is the great thing about the media industries, so self defeating.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jun 2010 @ 2:16pm

Probably not so awesome for anyone who works in the worldwide antipiracy community.

buuuuuuut then, neither is life.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jun 2010 @ 2:24pm

If Ashton can do it so can we! After all if Rockstar is cracking their games for legal purchases, I don't see why users can't follow the lead and do the same thing. Thanks for the heads up Ashton!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jun 2010 @ 2:34pm

So, who's up for contacting the hosting ISP and filing a DMCA request to get this first 13 minutes pulled? Seems pretty fitting to me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TSO, 1 Jun 2010 @ 3:13pm

> complaining about how calling this "piracy" is some sort of insult to people in the movie industry

I think calling uploading JUST 13 minutes of the movie "piracy" is an insult to people in the piracy industry. :-b
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jun 2010 @ 3:20pm

lol
he's gonna pirate only the first 10 minutes?

more importantly, why isn't he being arrested or sued for premeditated crime which they have tons of evidence of AND he's already admitted to?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
harbingerofdoom (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 5:11pm

except we all know thats not pirating...

its a bunch of douches acting all douchy...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jun 2010 @ 5:14pm

The entertainment industry is just as bad as the oil companies like BP that instead of detonating that hole to close it, keep letting millions of gallons of oil spill so they can find a solution that doesn't involve losing that hole in the ground.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TPBGirl, 2 Jun 2010 @ 10:10am

13 mins of pirated film? OMG! I bow to his grace! /sarcasm

Geez, don't they know the whole movie will be online to download before Ashton ever gets out of the premiere? lmao

Thanks Ashton but no thanks. We prefer the whole movie :P
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
martinvanburren, 11 Jul 2010 @ 12:15pm

herro
i Wat to play films in India i like it so much i like Indian movie aim in Uganda my was blackamerican but my mother was Ugandan my district when iam now is called mukono city Kampala my name is martinvanburren OK good day good time goodweather goodnight goodbyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]