[macintologist]

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/21...accused-piracy

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been accused of breaking its own rules and making illegal copies of a film.

The claims, which came to light at the Sundance Film Festival, centre on a movie called This Film Is Not Yet Rated.

The film examines the role of the MPAA in deciding classifications for films containing scenes of sex and violence, and investigates whether it treats independent films unfairly.

Kirby Dick, the film's maker, submitted the film in November and said that the MPAA's lawyer admitted to copying the DVD. He has now filed a suit to recover all copies of the film and to determine who ordered the illegal actions.

Kori Bernards, the MPAA's vice president for corporate communications, told the Los Angeles Times: "We made a copy of Kirby's movie because it had implications for our employees."

Bernards also claimed that Dick spied on members of the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration, including going through their dustbins and following them as they drove their children to school.

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

But this action appears to run against the official line on the organisation's website which states: "Piracy is a serious federal offence. There are several forms of piracy including internet piracy, DVD copying, illegal sales and theatrical camcording. All forms of piracy are illegal and carry serious legal consequences."

[Dakar]

Hey, they had a good reason to, right?

Oh wait, if owning the DVD isn't a good enough reason, nothing is.

[JoshuaZ]

Someone needs to stick a big sign that says "Irony" on the lawn of the MPAA.

[Dakar]

If the MPAA had a lawn I think people would be sh!tting on it 24/7

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by Dakar

If the MPAA had a lawn I think people would be sh!tting on it 24/7

Nah, I imagine it would probably have a gardener who worked rather hard at keeping the bushes all properly groomed, the grass cut, and the flower beds in order. The usual lawn type things.

[Dakar]

I still see a bunch of college kids sneaking in during the night and doing the doo on the lawn.

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by Dakar

I still see a bunch of college kids sneaking in during the night and doing the doo on the lawn.

Thats why they probably have a lot of randomly evil trained monkeys guarding the place at night.

[Dork.]

I saw this on /. a few days ago. no doubt it was on digg a day earlier. You guys usually post this stuff here the same day, you must be slipping!

In any case, this guy doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning a lawsuit against the MPAA, but I hope he (or maybe the EFF) pushes his case anyway. I want the MPAA to say in court and on the record that they did in fact make copies (and if they bypassed CSS to do it, it would be sweet!), but that they had fair-use rights to do so because the film might be used as evidence in a criminal investigation, which the law experts on /. said is the case.

That would be significant because the MPAA has sued a company into oblivion (321 studios) who distributed DVD copying software on the grounds that there was no legitimate use for it. Well, when their back was up against the wall, the MPAA found a legitimate use for it, didn't they? (It would be even more sweet if they used 321's software to do this.)

[analogika]

That was the story of the week, btw.

Well, number two after aberdeenwriter's public disintegration in the Lounge.