MPAA Admits To Infringing Copyright

[GhostShip]

It seems this is a good time for politicians to prove their independence and declare this sort of hypocritical action the insult that it is to ordinary folks.

http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/qtakes/cl-et-mpaa24jan24,0,288862.story

The Motion Picture Ass of America, the leader in the global fight against movie piracy, is being accused of unlawfully making a bootleg copy of a documentary that takes a critical look at the MPAA's film ratings system.

The MPAA admitted Monday that it had duplicated "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" without the filmmaker's permission after director Kirby Dick submitted his movie in November for an MPAA rating. The Hollywood trade organization said that it did not break copyright law, insisting that the dispute is part of a Dick-orchestrated "publicity stunt" to boost the film's profile.
The filmmaker said that when he asked MPAA lawyer Greg Goeckner what right his organization had to make the copy, Goeckner told him that Dick and his crew had potentially invaded the privacy of the MPAA's movie raters.

"We made a copy of Kirby's movie because it had implications for our employees," said Kori Bernards, the MPAA's vice president for corporate communications. She said Dick spied on the members of the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration, including going through their garbage and following them as they drove their children to school.

"We were concerned about the raters and their families," Bernards said. She said the MPAA's copy of "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is "locked away," and is not being copied or distributed.

The standard the MPAA is using for itself appears to be at odds with what the organization sets out for others: "Manufacturing, selling, distributing or making copies of motion pictures without the consent of the copyright owners is illegal," the MPAA's website says. "Movie pirates are thieves, plain and simple…. ALL forms of piracy are illegal and carry serious legal consequences."

Donaldson said in an interview that the MPAA previously had promised in writing that it would not copy the film, but an e-mail exchange does not completely support that claim.

Donaldson added that while he is not planning at this time to sue the MPAA for copyright infringement, he reserved the possibility of filing a lawsuit later. "It's my practice and style to wait and see what they do, go over all of our options, and then make a decision," he said.

I think then this shows another possible legal defence against the MPAA etc, just tell them you thought you saw a cartoon you drew on the side of a car in the movie and that you where checking out the illicit copies of every movie for potential legal action, hey it works for these theives  

[Lysander]

All of their pathetic, wheedlie excuses fall flat when you consider that all of them could be solved just as easily by... BUYING THE DOCUMENTARY? You know, like everyone else does? Making money does not make you elite class in America, you stupid, greedy, hipocritical fuck tards.