Rich Fiscus
18 Feb 2009 12:07
An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly recording movies with his camcorder at a drive-in theater. According to the Motion Picture Association (MPA), an organization representing movie studios around the world, the 26 year old was responsible was responsible for recording a number of cam movies made available by the release group PreVail.
Police seized camcorder and computer equipment in a raid. This equipment was allegedly used for recording recent movies, including “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “Marley and Me”, “Yes Man”, “Bedtime Stories”, and “Beverley Hills Chihuahua”.
They were acting largely on information collected by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT). AFACT is an organization comprised of companies in the Australian film and television industry.
The drive-in where the Cam releases were recorded was identified using digital watermarks added to many film prints before they're sent to theaters.
“Anyone thinking of illegally camcording a movie should be aware that the technology exists to identify them, track them down and take them to court on criminal copyright charges,” said Neil Gane, Director of Operations at AFACT.