FBI make arrest in Internet movie piracy case

[MSNwar]

An Illinois man who allegedly received so-called "screener" movies from an Academy Award member, then bootlegged and illegally distributed them over the Internet, is to appear in federal court Friday in Chicago.

FBI agents arrested Russell William Sprague, 51, on Thursday after an early morning search of his Homewood, Ill., home turned up hundreds of copies of screener films such as The Last Samurai.

Agents said the films have been traced back to longtime Academy member, actor Carmine Caridi.

In addition to the movies found in Sprague's home, agents said they found an array of duplicating equipment in addition to illegal satellite television interception equipment.

Sprague is charged with criminal copyright infringement. It is the first arrest in the bootlegging of screeners in the United States, they added.

A woman who answered the telephone at Sprague's home Thursday evening hung up without comment.

Caridi told investigators he sent VHS copies of about 60 movies he received each year to Sprague through packages sent to him. Sprague used a software program to copy the VHS tape onto DVD format and once copies were finished, sent the original back to Caridi, the FBI said.

Two screeners that circulated on the Internet, Something's Gotta Give and Big Fish have been positively identified by Sony Pictures as having been shipped to Caridi.

Warner Brothers studio recently alerted the FBI that copies of its The Last Samurai and Mystic River were being made freely available for download on the Internet. It was unknown if those copies have yet to be traced.

Caridi, a veteran film and TV actor, has been a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for more than 20 years. He appeared on TV's NYPD Blue and such films as The Godfather: Part II and The Godfather: Part III.

Caridi said he received no money for the films. He allegedly told investigators he believed Sprague was a film buff and merely wished to watch them.

Caridi has not been charged and additional arrests have not been ruled out, FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said.

Investigators said a search of Caridi's Hollywood apartment turned up 36 original Academy Award VHS screener tapes, including The Last Samurai, In America, Shattered Glass and Mona Lisa Smile. Also found in his apartment were large quantities of FedEx shipping labels bearing Sprague's address, authorities said.

An Academy spokeswoman declined to comment about the case.

The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents studios, last year banned the distribution of screener DVDs and videotapes over concerns about bootlegging, but partly lifted the ban after complaints from filmmakers, producers and independent production companies.

The studios changed the policy in October to allow the shipment of encoded videocassettes that would allow tracing to Academy Award voters only. A federal judge in December, however, granted a temporary injunction lifting the screener ban in a lawsuit brought by independent production companies, which argued the policy put them at a disadvantage for awards. The studios then sent screeners to thousands of other awards voters.

The academy required its 5,803 eligible Oscar voters to sign forms promising to protect their screener tapes before they were received. About 80% of voters signed and returned the forms ? including Caridi ? which include a stipulation that a violation is grounds for expulsion from the academy and other penalties.

Source: USATODAY.com