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Bootlegging: Ripping the Film Industry One DVD at a Time ers to members of the Motion Picture of Academy and Sciences.
By Adam Levy
The screeners are circulated to bolster their film’s chances of
Daily Titan Head News
award consideration or for promotion.
AUG. 21, 2006
You or
CSUF Theatre Preview
someone you
people who get early releases, access to warehouses or [motion
emblazoned on a blank DVD. Bootlegged movies are
picture] Academy members. If a movie is gonna get Academy
everywhere, available at swap meets, liquor stores, the
Award attention we have connects everywhere — and those are
backrooms of some mom-and-pop video stores and on
the best ones to get.” Once contacts are found, the films are then duplicated and
The business of copyright infringement is a booming one, evidenced by the estimated $6.1 billion loss
returned in the blink of an eye. “The whole thing takes less than 24 hours, I throw them $200 to
incurred by movie studios last year, according to a
borrow it, then I rip the DVD which takes 30 to 40 minutes,” Ortiz
study conducted by the Motion Picture Association of
said.
America. The study also revealed that college students
In hopes of quelling the epidemic, the MPAA stopped issuing
account for as much as 44 percent of the piracy in this
screeners altogether in 2003 but later resumed dispensing them
sophisticated wireless age.
with a new policy and contractual agreement. The FBI launched
Dave Bruemmer, a 34-year-old computer science major, has
an investigation in January of 2004 based on a screener copy of
amassed a collection of over 20 bootlegged DVDs. He enjoys the
a film that was circulating the Web with identifying earmarks.
mystique of having top ten films without the hassles that accom-
Subsequently, actor and Academy member Carmine Caridi was
pany a trip to the cinema.
fingered as the source and expelled from the academy. Still, Ortiz
“There’s sort of a perverse satisfaction in having something exclusive that others don’t,” Bruemmer said. “I can watch something others can’t — there’s something to that.”
and bootleggers have little trouble acquiring their goods. Another risky element to the business is timeliness, as the bootleg movies have the shelf life of french fries with a brief window
As Hollywood continues to churn out bigger and better block-
from becoming “must-have” items to a shoddy throw-away ver-
busters, there is an underground industry of bandits looking to
sion of the much higher-quality DVD released by the studios four
have the films in the hands of consumers before their theatrical
to six months after the film’s theatrical release.
premieres.
“Without timing, you’re done in this market,” said Ortiz.
“The money in this business is so good that I never hesitated
CSUF Media Law Professor Genelle Belmas believes the movie
once,” said Ortiz, a 33-year-old bootlegger in a phone interview,
business needs to adapt to the surging technology to stay com-
using a pseudonym out of concern for legal repercussions. “I
petitive with the pirates.
turned a $25,000 profit off Star Wars: Episode III.”
“The music industry is just now finding ways to use the online
The go-getter has gradually become a major player in the business since selling his first bootlegged film, the 1998 action movie Blade.
environment to its benefit rather than just being kicked around by it. The film industry has to follow suit,” she said. Of course, the most hazardous aspect shadowing this business
Lured away from the legitimate commerce of video stores by
is the hand of Johnny Law, as copyright infringement standards
the fast cash of bootlegging, he deals on a macro level, buying
hold those in question to a high level of culpability, with punish-
thousands of illegally copied motion pictures with a legion of un-
ments including incarceration, fines, and a Pandora’s box of law-
derlings who venture out in the trenches to sell them. The movies
suits from the studios who produced the films originally. Though
come to him at a cost of 12 cents a piece and sell for around $10
acknowledging its risks, Ortiz seemed cavalier about the inherent
once they hit the black market.
legal repercussions of his trade.
“People like to show [the movies] off when they have friends and family over,” Ortiz said. “And who likes waiting in line at the
“I know how this business works and the money’s too good to let that stop me.”
movies, to pay ten or fifteen bucks to bump elbows with strangers and get ripped off at the concession stands? With me, they get the movie for ten bucks, the end.” Bruemmer, though he owns a lot of bootlegged films, knows the quality isn’t the best. “At best you have some kind of message that runs along a ticker at the bottom, at worst its real dark and grainy, you can see the boom microphones hanging from the rafter--sometimes they’re unwatchable.” In an industry where innovation is pivotal to stay ahead of the curve, the bootleggers have many tricks up their sleeves to acquire the copies of the films long before you are standing in line waiting for the next sold-out show. “There’s a big network of piracy groups all feeding off each other,” Ortiz said. Prime sources bootleggers have are industry insiders. Studios routinely release advance copies, known as screen-
For The Daily Titan
“A lot of these [piracy] groups invite people in [to the business],
know may have a pirated copy of a hot new movie,
the street corners of major cities across the globe.
By Alicia David
KIRSTEN ALTO / Daily Titan Buzz Editor
Bootleggers use blank DVDs and screener copies of new releases to make cash.
The theatre department will be hard at work this semester providing several productions to entertain everybody’s taste. The first of five plays to take place on campus is “The Sea Gull” directed by Svetlana Efremova and co-directed by Joseph Arnold. The play has various shows beginning Sept. 29 to Oct. 15, performed in the Young Theatre. The play was written by Anton Chekhov and explores dreams of fame and glory and the desire for love, art and freedom. The next production is “Seussical” directed by Patrick Pearson with musical direction by Mitchell Hanlon. The show will be performed from Oct. 13 to 29 in the Little Theatre. According to the department calendar listing, it is based on the works of Dr. Seuss and discusses the power of imagination as The Cat in the Hat leads audiences through Dr. Seuss’ magical world of characters and adventures. “Spring Storm” is the third production of the semester and will be performed Oct. 27 to Nov. 12. The play was written by Tennessee Williams and will be directed by James Taulli. “Williams is one of America’s most famous playwrights,” said Taulli via an e-mail interview. “He also wrote a “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. “The play is a steamy story primarily concerned with four young adults who feel trapped in a small provincial southern town in the late 1930s,” he said. The fourth performance is “The Fall Dance Theatre” coordinated by Gladys Kares and will be performed in the Little Theatre Nov. 10 to 19. According to the theatre department’s poster listing, the production is inspiring, eclectic and oftentimes riveting. Cal State Fullerton’s choreographers and dancers weave compelling stories, capture life’s frail, frantic and most precious moments and remind us why spending a brief time in the theatre sharing the joy of dance should be one of life’s mandatory experiences. The last play for the fall semester is “The Man Who Came to Dinner” directed by Eve Himmelheber. The comedic performance will be held in the Young Theatre and run from Nov. 17 to Dec. 10. Tickets for all shows can be purchased in advance at the CSUF performing arts center box office. Single tickets are also available for purchase online at www. tickets.com. FOR UPDATES ON WHAT’S GOING ON IN CSUF THEATRE GO TO WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DAILYTITANBUZZ
