"LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two major movie studios sued an actor and longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who allegedly leaked "screener" copies of movies that were then reproduced and distributed on the Internet.

Columbia Pictures Industries and Warner Bros. filed the lawsuits against Carmine Caridi, a 20-year Academy member who has appeared in "The Godfather: Part II" and "NYPD Blue."

Caridi, 70, has told investigators he sent VHS copies of about 60 movies he received each year to his Illinois friend, 51-year-old Russell Sprague, who used a software program to convert the VHS tape into DVD format and then sent the original tapes back to Caridi, authorities said.

Investigators said a search of Caridi's Hollywood apartment turned up 36 original Academy screener tapes, including "The Last Samurai," "In America," "Shattebe` Glass" and "Mona Lisa Smile."

Warner Bros. seeks damages of a minimum of $150,000 for each infringing use of its releases "The Last Samurai" and "Mystic River." In a separate complaint, Columbia is asking for its choice between actual damages or $150,000 for each infringing use of "Something's Gotta Give" and "Big Fish."

Caridi's attorney, Richard Millard, did not immediately return calls Wednesday. An attorney for Warner Bros. declined to comment. An attorney for Columbia did not return messages left late Wednesday."
Read
more at Court TV

Hopefully Caridi will fight his tooth and nail, anyone have any idea what his financial situation is?

Proof once again, the RIAA/MPAA's enemies aren't "evil internet pirates" but the bootleg material is coming from their own members.

They better look in the mirror before they start labeling everyone who's DLed a tune, a pirate.

This case is totally defensible on copyright infringement grounds. Breach of contract is another matter but the CR case is by no means a slam dunk. If he did not know his buudy was making copies then no infringement. However, if he already confessed that he knew his buddy was going to make copies then it gets real Iffy.

This is why I'll reject any chance at becoming a member of the Writer's Guild or the Academy. Don't send me movies because I don't want to risk shit. I'll see the movies in the theaters and when they come out on DVD, thank you very much. They might as well go after anyone with a computer who receives screeners. It's damn pointless, and I don't want to be any part of it.

too bad really, I know what he did was wrong but hell what clinton did to the american government for 8 years was wrong and what bush is doing is wrong and the world is full of wrongs this is just another example of what the almighty dollar can do when it becomes more important than everything else.

Exactly. It's wrong and you shouldn't do it. But the MPAA and the like go overboard when it comes to this stuff.

Busted.

I have hunch movies will continue to appear on the internet before they're released in cinemas still, despite this. These hacker people are extremely resourceful folks that when they get their minds set on something it's hard to stop them, especially when there's this atmosphere of competition between them to see who can get the movies the fastest.

I feel sorry for the movie companies really in trying to combat this; not because I think they're being ripped off, but because I think they've got no hope of stopping it. It does not effect their sales one bit. What effects their sales is the quality of the movies they make, period. The only way it effects their bottom line, I guess, is that now if they make a crap movie they can't hide it before openning weekend . All good.

Theres always another leak. Just too many people involved. Dont forget the "invisible men". There are always the cleaners and caretakers who noone ever thinks about. As soon as one leak is pluged another will form.

"actual damages or $150,000"
Wow thats the first time I heard them acknowledge the fact that it does not really cost the 150 grand per copy....

01/31/2004 SCREENER The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King -RING

01/30/2004 SCREENER Beyond Borders -TCF

01/30/2004 SCREENER Matrix Revolutions *PROPER* -VideoCD

01/29/2004 SCREENER Gothika -VideoCD

You can never stop us, we'll start buying more dvd's when you stop charging us $20 for a disk that costs 35 cents to make.

::looks over at my dvd rack:: about $400 worth of hong kong import anime, alot i saw before downloaded or even on cartoon network. The ridiculus part, if i had bought it from USA stores this collection would've been well over $1000 if not $1500 or $2000.

"piracy" will always exist while you continue making a product that people can not afford and is digital, all copy-protection schemes are destroyed. For every member working to fight "piracy" theres 100s of crackers against them, and the crackers are more intelligent.

One of the main advantages digital projection equipment manufacturers are constantly telling the the studios about is its piracy-resistance. They point out that while any moderate pirate group can sneak some transfer equipment into the projection room, its very difficult to break an encrypted hard drive.

Note that none of the projector manufacturers try to market to the cinemas - they know they wouldn't pay the huge cost of converting no matter how great the savings. Instead they try to convince the studios to lean on the cinemas.

So far through, no suscessful way to prevent handheld camcorders taking an image of the screen has been found. No method of stoping the projectionist setting up the camcorder in the booth with a line into the audio system has been found either. One company is still working on it, but its looking like vaporware and will sometimes give the viewers nasty headaches. It would also require putting warning notices on the doors for photosensitive epileptics, which might discourage a few viewers.

Screeners will always be potentially available to pirates on the day after the first screening at the latest. The MPAA is working on preventing leaks earlier in the process, with some success. The recent and protested screener ban was part of that. So is this incident. But neither solves the basic problem. With the hundreds or thousands of people who have access to a movie or at least pieces of it before release, they cant watch all of them. Everyone from the cleaner to the editors to technical support to the delivery truck driver is a potential leak.

Well lets see, 36 tapes copied, one friend gives them to another, that friend gives them to 2 others then 4 then 8...Wow, I hope he has a full checkbook.