Pirate of Movie Leak Busted

[narrows101]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...copy-x-men-origins-wolverine-being-leaked-web

EXCLUSIVE: Pirate Busted! Arrest In Copy Of X-Men Origins: Wolverine Being Leaked On Web
By Doug
Created 12/16/2009 - 11:14am


A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with distributing a pirated copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on the Internet, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.

Gilberto Sanchez, 37, from the Bronx in New York was taken into custody by special agents at his home working with the Federal Bureau Of Investigation.

EXCLUSIVE LEGAL DOCUMENTS: Read The Indictment

The arrest follows an indictment from December 10 by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles that charges Sanchez with pirating and releasing the blockbuster movie starring Hugh Jackman.

Sanchhez is expected to make his appearance in a New York court Wednesday; the crime carries a statutory three year jail sentence and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense, whichever is greater.

The case is a result of an investigation by the FBI in Los Angeles who were assisted by their field office in New York in arresting Sanchez.

The incomplete copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked onto the Internet a month before the movie's scheduled release.

Twentieth Century Fox studio immediately contacted legal authorities and the movie was taken down. The studio was a co-producer of the film with Marvel Entertainment, publisher of the X-Men comic series.

X- Men Origins: Wolverine – which cost $150 million dollars to make - grossed $180 million in America and $193 million overseas.

The theft highlights the difficulty Hollywood studios face as online distribution of movies and shows becomes easier. Piracy cost the film industry, including studios, theaters and video stores, $18.2 billion in 2005, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

 

[BlackLantern]

whys it gotta be a minority?? ****...

Conspiracy!!!!!

 

[TheVileOne]

Gilberto worked for Fox. Fox leaked the movie.

 

[Wolfwood]

SkillyGilly, I laughed my ass off at that. I better start choosing my internet pseudonyms more carefully in case I get arrested. I would hate for them to say stuff like "AKA Hotboy4u" at my indictment.

 

[B]

"Piracy cost the movie industry $18.2 billion in 2005"

I'm sure thats true..

I'd love to know how they worked that number out.

 

[danoyse]

It was downloaded 4.1 million times? Damn.

(and I've still never watched the bootleg)

Whoever's ultimately responsible, I'd like to spend a few minutes kicking the crap out of for all trouble we had with that bootleg nonsense when it happened.

 

[PWN3R]

Pssh, I'd like to thank him. He saved me ten bucks. Good man. :P

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

"Piracy cost the movie industry $18.2 billion in 2005"

I'm sure thats true..

I'd love to know how they worked that number out.

Exagerated numbers to make a case for anti-piracy sentiments no doubt. The are counting a download as an immediate loss when in reality all the downloads do not equal a lost sale. Many of the people who downloaded the item also went to see the movie and they have no way of confirming those numbers so right off the bat you could see theres something wrong in that number.

 

[danoyse]

They're basically going assume that each download = 1 ticket sale lost. They won't try to back out the number of people who wind up paying to see the movie anyway because there's really no way of tracking it, and of course they're going to keep those numbers as high as they can, so you'll never see them try to downplay that number.

 

[BlackLantern]

they also include projected DVD sales in those numbers as well I think....I'm an anti-piracy type of guy, I know it goes on, but I don't condone it like a lot of websites and blogs do

 

[SuperFerret]

A few times that I've downloaded a new (as in still in theaters) movie, I downloaded it after seeing it in the theaters because I wanted to watch it again. I've also purchased the DVDs when they became available.

 

[danoyse]

I don't download movies either. I'd rather see them in the theater. If the movie sucks, it sucks...it's a risk I'm willing to take if it's a movie I want to see.

Wolverine wasn't exactly Citizen Kane, but seeing it with the opening night crowd was still fun. The crowd was definitely enjoying it, and I wound up liking it a lot more than I thought would, which was a bonus.

 

[SuperFerret]

The theater crowd can make the film experience better, but in my experience, they tend to effect it negatively. It's also a pain in the ass to get my friends together to go see something.

 

[danoyse]

Our crowd on opening night was great, they were cheering everything. Although we stayed through the credits and saw the Japan ending, and some guy yelled out "What the hell happens in China?!" and got all upset.

The worst opening night crowd I remember is Spiderman 3, they were just obnoxious for the whole thing.

 

[SuperFerret]

When I went to see Spider-Man, the crowd was actually applauding certain scenes. Bugged the hell out of me.

 

[BlackLantern]

Our crowd on opening night was great, they were cheering everything. Although we stayed through the credits and saw the Japan ending, and some guy yelled out "What the hell happens in China?!" and got all upset.

The worst opening night crowd I remember is Spiderman 3, they were just obnoxious for the whole thing.

I waited for Wolverine to hit DVD and watched it with 2 friends of mine who aren't comic fans, they liked it...I didn't and wondered why I didn't

Spider-Man 3 deserves obnoxiousness

 

[danoyse]

When I went to see Spider-Man, the crowd was actually applauding certain scenes. Bugged the hell out of me.

I saw the first Spiderman at a movie theater in Times Square, the crowd was like a rock concert, it was awesome. Spiderman 3 on opening night? Not so much.

I saw Wolverine in the theater the 2nd time with a friend who just wanted to see it for the scenes where he got naked. Watching her lean so forward in her seat that she nearly fell into the row in front of us was worth the whole trip to the theater.

 

[mclay18]

Many of the people who downloaded the item also went to see the movie and they have no way of confirming those numbers so right off the bat you could see theres something wrong in that number.

Movie critic James Berardinelli wrote in his ReelThoughts column that sometimes people who watch illegal movie downloads can actually benefit movie studios. Here's an excerpt:

However, there are also people who come to love a movie as a result of an illegal download and enriching the studio's coffers. True story: I know someone who had little interest in Harry Potter. Around the time the fifth movie came out, which was also when the final book was released, he had grown curious enough about the series to download a cam-copy of The Order of the Phoenix. He liked what he saw. So he went to Blockbuster and rented the first four movies. Then he saw the fifth in a theater. Then he purchased the sixth and seventh books to find out what happened. Next came books one through five and copies of all the movies. A Harry Potter die-hard was born because of an illegal download.

I didn't see the illegal download of Wolverine (instead I saw it at the midnight showing), but I wish I had. It would've saved me some dough I could've used to see a better movie.

 

[BlackLantern]

I wonder where this guy got the copy from though??

 

[TheVileOne]

I wonder where this guy got the copy from though??

I already told you.

What most people are failing to ignore is that piracy leaks come from WITHIN the industry.

I'm not talking about camcorder crap.

All this was part of a calculated marketing campaign by Fox.

 

[BlackLantern]

I already told you.

What most people are failing to ignore is that piracy leaks come from WITHIN the industry.

I'm not talking about camcorder crap.

All this was part of a calculated marketing campaign by Fox.

I have no doubts it was an inside job, my question is specifically where or who he got it from...was it just left on his desk? did he pinch it while it was on its way to someones office?

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

Movie critic James Berardinelli wrote in his ReelThoughts column that sometimes people who watch illegal movie downloads can actually benefit movie studios. Here's an excerpt:



I didn't see the illegal download of Wolverine (instead I saw it at the midnight showing), but I wish I had. It would've saved me some dough I could've used to see a better movie.

Its a good point you raise and I think this is exactly what is happening but no one wants to admit: Internet Downloads are also working as a marketing/sampling tool and they are not hurting any industry to the extent they like to paint it. They just want to maximize profits.

 

[X-Maniac]

Gilberto worked for Fox. Fox leaked the movie.

Highly unlikely that Fox would send one of their own employees to jail for three years and that he would agree to go to jail and have a criminal record against his name for the rest of his life.

If Fox had concocted all this, then surely we'd never have seen an actual arrest. Nor would we see fileshare sites closed down as a result if the industry is relying on them for bogus marketing.

Those who say downloads are a form of sampling/marketing are talking nonsense. We have trailers and publicity stills for that purpose. No one would give away their entire product for free as a sampler, especially if it cost $150million and they needed the investment back (and some profit).

There's also a lot of silly talk about the leak from those who don't like Wolverine and therefore say it deserved to be leaked. Which film is involved is irrelevant, whether you loved or hated it is irrelevant. Just because it had mixed reviews doesn't justify it being leaked. What if Lord of the Rings or The Dark Knight were leaked way before release? I suppose it's then seen as a terrible tragedy.

 

[BlackLantern]

all good points, Maniac

 

[danoyse]

Not to mention if the trail leads all the way back to a scheme by Fox, they get in plenty of trouble themselves for using up FBI time if it was something they planned all along.