Judge Censors Popular Mexican Documentary, Which Critiques Judiciary; Director Then Complains About 'Piracy'

from the funny-how-that-works dept

Mon, Mar 7th 2011 1:49pm — Mike Masnick

SinkDeep alerts us to the news that a very popular Mexican documentary, called Presumed Guilty (Presunto Culpable in Spanish) has been censored by the courts, after one person who appears in the movie complained that he never gave permission. The movie itself is a documentary shedding some light on the Mexican judiciary, following the case of the wrongful conviction of Antonio Zuniga for murder, based on flimsy evidence. The complaint came from one of the witnesses in court, who claims he never gave permission to the filmmakers. The filmmakers claim that since he appeared at a public trial there was no need to get permission -- and lots of people, including local and federal government officials are claiming that they disagree with the court's ruling.

Apparently, some are ignoring the order to stop showing the film, and the entire film has shown up on YouTube, where its racking up plenty of views. On top of that, the censorship order has made the movie popular among people selling bootlegs.

Of course, SinkDeep also notes that even with all of this helping the movie get a lot more attention, the producers are complaining about this "piracy." Apparently they've been complaining on Twitter that people shouldn't watch the unauthorized versions, even as they're fighting the courts who have censored the original version. On top of that, this morning, the director successfully issued a takedown to remove the film from YouTube. Of course, this seems like a perfect place where a filmmaker might encourage more people to see a movie, just as it's been censored. It's too bad the reaction is the same typical "but, but, piracy!" reaction.

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Filed Under: censoship, mexico, movies, piracy

22 Comments

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:Lobo Santo (profile), 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:03pm

Are you certain
Are you certain it's not a ploy to get even more publicity?

Y'know, like "Hey, don't watch my pirated movie! (nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean, eh?)"
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The eejit (profile), 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:07pm

Re: Are you certain
IT would be one of the best psychological ads ever. But sadly, it appears to not be the case.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:22pm

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Roberto Hernandez
Sorry about that. (youtube)
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Loonesta, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:23pm

That YouTube version "is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Robert Hernandez".
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:24pm

All the publicity in the world (and all the free views) don't mean much if by the time you get things settled in court, you have a product that nobody is going to pay to see anymore because they all saw it already online for free.

The rights owner should make that choice, not a bunch of basement keyboard warriors.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:27pm

Re:
Your opinion stated as fact bears some small thought, however it is more an indictment of an ineffectual and amazingly slow legal system.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:34pm

Re:
Doesn't mater if you get it settled in court if no one even knows about the movie afterwards.
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xczxcz, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:39pm

xczxczx
cxzc`zxc`zxc`zxc`xzc`xczc
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 2:58pm

Perhaps he has to!
Is it at all possible that the director is legally obliged due to the court order to take all reasonable steps to prevent the documentary being viewed.

That could well include issuing DMCA takedown notices, as the courts would "expect" a rights holder to do with infringing material.

Anyone know if this could be the case
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Sinkdeep, 7 Mar 2011 @ 3:04pm

Re: Perhaps he has to!
I honestly doubt the jury (and any jury in Mexico) that issue the order knows what an DMCA is.

The director seems to know.. he took it down because
"you cannot do public interest work w/o paying for a team's lunch". lol

https://twitter.com/#!/porquesmichamba/status/44605934051405824
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 3:05pm

Re:
Tell that to Warren Ellis, whose series FreakAngels is serialized for free online and the books sell well enough AFTERWARDS. And the free online version is still up.

Then again, don't go near Warren Ellis, he'd eat you alive and play with your remains once he pooped you out.

As one should.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 4:04pm

Re:
"The rights owner should make that choice, not a bunch of basement keyboard warriors."

Well, unfortunately, it is not his choice to make. Anyone minimally knowledgeable is capable of putting a movie up on youtube. There are millions (billions?) of people with that ability. There are hundreds of thousands that are willing to do that. There is demand for it. You'd have more luck trying to stop a tidal wave with a tennis racquet.
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ltlw0lf (profile), 7 Mar 2011 @ 4:06pm

Re:
you have a product that nobody is going to pay to see anymore because they all saw it already online for free.

I have several copies of Freedom Downtime that I bought from 2600. This is despite the fact that they made the entire video available free online, and even have a statement on the video saying that they welcomed people to copy and distribute the video. I've purchased many products that were available for free, and I know I am not alone in doing so (2600 has sold a lot of copies of Freedom Downtime.) So, your "nobody will buy because it is available for free" just doesn't seem to really work.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 7 Mar 2011 @ 4:30pm

Same ol'
Yeah, so it's not really the issue he's worried about, is it?
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Johndoe, 7 Mar 2011 @ 4:42pm

the whole problem..
The whole copyright issue is just a big fat lie by the Courts, they want to keep the movie out of the citizen's view, since it sheeds incredible lazyness, corruption and incompetence by both the judicial and the police corps.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 6:39pm

Re: Re: Perhaps he has to!
and now I've read a bit more I haven't seen anything other than that the judge ordered the authorities to halt the showings in the cinemas.

Pity, I was hoping there was some sense to the director's DMCA behaviour
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 9:10pm

Re: Re:
Congrats, you are either an idiot or you are incapable of the basic steps of taking a video from online and burning it to disk.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 9:31pm

Re: Are you certain
The public is making a mockery out of injustice.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 9:36pm

Re: Re: Re:
So supporting a content creator that gives his content away for free makes someone an idiot? I suppose you think that giving to charity makes someone an idiot too, right?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2011 @ 9:36pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
(just goes to show the mentality of IP maximists. They are selfish to the core, why should we take them seriously?).
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V, 8 Mar 2011 @ 6:27am

Funny...
Funny, since Mexico has no DMCA and therefore has no DMCA takedown notice.

So, does that mean, a country without appropriate laws can use American laws to stifle free speech?

Nice!

I do so enjoy it when American - the supposed beacon of freedom - is used to supress freedom.

The Chinese could take lessons!
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natanya, 6 Oct 2011 @ 5:52pm

Censoring is not fair - goes against our freedom of expression. Express yourself the away you want at ArcLight's first-ever Documentary Film Festival for a chance to earn $10,000. https://www.withoutabox.com/03film/03t_fin/03t_fin_fest_01over.php?festival_id=11110
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