MPAA RAIDS MOTOR CITY CON

[MattBrady]

updated 05.22.06 9:38am

by Vaneta Rogers

At this weekend's Motor City Comic Con, fans and vendors were abuzz about a police raid on Friday targeting the sale of illegal recordings.

Monday morning, Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Joseph White confirmed that private detectives working with the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America entered the Rock Financial Showplace on Friday working under the suspicion that illegal sales of copyrighted recordings were being made. Upon finding allegedly illegal materials for sale, they then contacted state police.

White said this is not an uncommon occurrence at trade shows -- not just comic book conventions, but a wide variety of shows where items are being sold. "A lot of these trade shows have people selling fraudulent materials," the detective said. "With the availability of the equipment to make these products, there are a lot of people trying to defraud the industry and make a quick buck off of it."

Using a list provided by the MPAA, approximately 20 officers from the Michigan State Police, with assistance from local Novi, Mich., police, entered the facility on Friday afternoon to comb through the DVDs, including not only those on sales tables, but those being stored for future sales.

As a result, more than 30,000 suspected fraudulent items were obtained and 14 dealers were taken to the police station -- some in handcuffs -- for police reports to be filed. The dealers were not arrested, but the state police are seeking warrants for their arrest from prosecutors, White said. Pending that decision, the dealers were released and given the opportunity to return to open their locations at the con again. However, vendors indicated they had noticed RIAA and MPAA detectives on the premises again on Saturday.

While some fans and other retailers indicated they had seen recently released movies like The DaVinci Code being sold at the booths, Convention Coordinator Gary Bishop said the contract that dealers sign clearly states that they are not allowed to sell this type of material.

"It was an unfortunate situation involving the sale of bootleg merchandise, but it is Motor City Comics Convention policy that dealers have agreed that they will not be selling bootleg merchandise at our convention or at any of our venues," Bishop said.

The convention organizer's website includes a copy of the dealers contract for the 2006 convention, and it states: "Guest agrees that all merchandise for sale is legal and licensed. Guests selling unlicenced or 'bootleg' merchandise, including t-shirts, video tapes etc., may be ejected from the convention with no refund of space/table fees."

While representatives from the MPAA were not available for comment, the organization recently released a study that indicates that MPAA studios lost $6.1 billion to piracy in 2005. Of that amount, approximately $1.3 billion came from piracy in the United States.

orignal story follows

To date, the big news from this year’s conventions has been, largely, crowds and sold out shows.

That changed at this weekend's Motor City Con in Novi, Michigan, when the RIAA came to town.

According to numerous eyewitness accounts, state and local police, along with investigators from the recording and film industries conducted a major raid on the show floor, focusing on pirated videtapes and DVDs. Several pallets of videos were seized and many retailers were escorted from the floor, some in handcuffs.

Though attending the show as a guest, CBG’s John Jackson Miller wrote:

In what has become an increasingly familiar occurrence at American pop culture conventions, undercover agents from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) entered the convention's new home at the Rock Financial Showplace early on opening day, visiting the booths of dealers selling DVDs. Around 5 p.m., Michigan State Police, assisted by members of the Novi, Mich., police, raided an estimated 14 different booths in the hall, according to Con Promoter Michael Goldman.

Novi officers were seen leading four dealers from the floor in handcuffs, and police said 10 additional dealers were escorted to police headquarters. Dealers were not arrested, but instead brought to the station to provide statements and officially surrender certain merchandise, one such dealer returning to the convention said.

Several booths were back in business before the end of the day, police keeping any items on their warrant. Dealers who reopened told CBG police were targeting both films and certain television recordings they suspected of being bootlegged. Some dealers never actually closed, as police targeted a number of dealers for whom videos were a small part of their merchandise. One retailer had only 20 videos on his table, his partner said.

Officers had been prepositioned to cover various ends of the large hall, a Novi officer told CBG -- and rolling pallets were brought into the hall to remove videos that were on their list of suspect items.

The sudden appearance of uniformed officers and agents wearing RIAA apparel in the hall -- and the subsequent searching and complete removal of entire booths -- attracted attention throughout the hall, and convention staffers fielded questions from many attendees.

Goldman told CBG that the Motor City Con exhibitors' agreement clearly forbids the display or sale of bootleg items. A similar raid previously occurred at Wizard World Philadelphia.

The agreement Goldman referred to is common at nearly all comic book conventions in various forms, although, as any convention goers knows, dealers selling bootlegs movies, copies or television shows, and CDs are present at nearly every convention. While some are discreet, others flaunt their wares, with plasma screen televisions showing near-perfect copies of recently-released films not currently (or never) available on DVD.

More pictures at the link.

Mark Evanier has posted commentary on the raids at his blog, saying, as well as other items:

I've had a few conversations at cons with folks who traffic in this area and have been amazed at the rationales for theft. Sometimes, the defense is just that they're not making a lot of money off these videos...which may be true but, you know, stealing small is still stealing. Sometimes, one hears the notion that it's not ignoble to rip off Time-Warner or Disney because, let's face it, those companies make skillions and perhaps are not always 100% honest in their pursuit of profits. Above and beyond the obvious flaw in that argument is the fact that the video pirates rarely spare the small producer or filmmaker...and that even a Disney bootleg cheats "little guys" like writers and voice actors who don't receive their contracted residuals.

The most frequent alibi is that the sellers aren't really doing it for the money...or at least, doing it just for the money. They're doing it as a public service since the folks who own the material in question are selfishly or thoughtlessly withholding it from the public. This is another way of saying the rights holders haven't gotten around yet to issuing the show or movie on home video but still, it almost sounds like a valid point. Doesn't change the fact that we're talking here about copyright violations but it sounds good. (click link for more)

[VinnyPic]

The full post from Mr. Evanier's blog:

[edit by Matt - can be found at Mark's blog.]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't even start with the impending anti-authority tirade that I KNOW is coming.

[botcherby]

lol this is funny

[Evil Twin]

I'm surprised that it's lasted this long without the cops coming out in force. Not often you have that many people around practically screaming "arrest me!"

[stvnhthr]

Bootlegging is wrong, but also the only way to currently get certain movies or tv shows on dvd.

[crunch-o-matic]

This is another way of saying the rights holders haven't gotten around yet to issuing the show or movie on home video but still, it almost sounds like a valid point.

I have no problem exploiting the stupidity or apathy of copyright holders.

Watching someone else make money is usually what gets them motivated to release.

[NormanB258]

Originally Posted by stvnhthr

Bootlegging is wrong, but also the only way to currently get certain movies or tv shows on dvd.

If there's something that's unavailable, just quietly download it for yourself and enjoy it.

I have no sympathy for people who try to SELL bootlegged movies, shows, etc.

[Chris Noeth]

"Not often you have that many people around practically screaming "arrest me!"

LOL!

[Aaron]

I am VERY shocked it took them this long, to be honest. I haven't been to a convention in probably about 5 years, but even then practically one in every 10 dealers had bootlegs on their tables.

I would have thought that with the advent of file sharing programs that less people would be selling this stuff since it's relatively easy to find virtually anything they're selling online. However it would appear that this is not the case.

It *is* pretty ballsy to blatantly sell something that's not yours to begin with. In my mind, there's a difference between sharing downloaded/bootleg materials (which, as stated above, typically only occurs to a great degree when the material is simply unavailable to be purchased) and actually SELLING the material. That's pretty shady, I think.

Aaron

[SpyGuy]

I love how the mendicants at the RIAA and the MPAA think they're justified in going after bootleggers of material that isn't actually available for legitimate purchase. You don't want people buying bootlegs of the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL? Fine, start selling it on Amazon.com or at Wal-Mart legitimately first and then have your fun chasing down bootleggers.

Well, I guess people will just have to go back to that old chestnut The Internet in order to see the colorized House of Blue Leaves fight sequence from KILL BILL VOL. 1...

[vjamesv]

I was at the convention selling my awesome comic Banana Man. It was pretty crazy on Friday. There were two guys in handcuffs, and one was making a scene screaming that he did not need to be in handcuffs because "I'm not David Blaine!" I thought that was pretty funny. They did take the handcuffs off after that.

I was hanging out at the convention party saturday night talking to one of the main guys running the show(the one that takes my check for the table), and he said that attendance increased because of the publicity. it was the number three news story in detroit. i have to say this was the best attended detroit convention that i have been to, and by far the best convention i have had in sales.

[ParisCub]

Now if only they could make a raid on ebay....

[VinnyPic]

Originally Posted by SpyGuy

I love how the mendicants at the RIAA and the MPAA think they're justified in going after bootleggers of material that isn't actually available for legitimate purchase.

What part of 'thou shall not steal' wasn't passed on to you during your formative years?

[stvnhthr]

Bootlegging is wrong, but it also has forced the studios to do more than simply release barebones dvds. It has made studios actually work to put bonus material on the discs which no one has see before. I had the original King Kong on dvd burned from my laserdisc for years before it was released in an official format. Did my bootleg keep me from getting the official release? Heck no! I'll always prefer a studio release to a bootleg.

[VinnyPic]

Originally Posted by SpyGuy

Well, I guess people will just have to go back to that old chestnut The Internet in order to see the colorized House of Blue Leaves fight sequence from KILL BILL VOL. 1...

And how the hell does that remotely justify anything?

Maybe, JUST MAYBE... you could you know, ACCEPT THE VERSION of the movie that was put out by the studio and buy it like a good little goober.

It's Tarentino's film. The Profits belong to him. NOT the l33t hax0r with his DVD burner. Also, the artistic vision is his. He can sell the version of HIS FILM that he wants. Just because he doesn't want to sell the version of HIS ARTISTIC WORK that you desire does not validate stealing it, reworking it and claiming the profits as your own.

[NormanB258]

Originally Posted by SpyGuy

I love how the mendicants at the RIAA and the MPAA think they're justified in going after bootleggers of material that isn't actually available for legitimate purchase. You don't want people buying bootlegs of the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL? Fine, start selling it on Amazon.com or at Wal-Mart legitimately first and then have your fun chasing down bootleggers.

They are justified. They are enforcing copyright law.

No amount of bellyaching or backstepping changes the fact that those dealers were BREAKING THE LAW.

Period.

End of discussion.

[VinnyPic]

Originally Posted by NormanB258

They are justified. They are enforcing copyright law.

No amount of bellyaching or backstepping changes the fact that those dealers were BREAKING THE LAW.

Period.

End of discussion.

I could hug you.

[SpyGuy]

Originally Posted by VinnyPic

What part of 'thou shall not steal' wasn't passed on to you during your formative years?

"Property is theft."
-- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 1840

[Spaz_Monkey]

I'm not saying I buy bootleg videos or DVDs . But if I were to buy them, I'd only buy those that have never and/or will never be released. Such as The Star Wars Holiday Special, the live action Justice League pilot, and so on. I've seen the Laser Disk to DVD ports of the original Star Wars trilogy at cons. It looks like the fans (or the almighty dollar) have been heard at Skywalker Ranch, because those are finally being released by Lucas.

I do NOT condone selling DVDs of movies currently in theaters. Nor do I agree with selling burned copies of new release DVDs. However, if Production Company X doesn't want to make money by selling Movie Z, and i want a copy of Movie Z, I'm going to do whatever it takes to purchase a copy of Movie Z.

We may never see WKRP In Cincinnati or The Wonder Years released on DVD, because of the music rights. Think back the Nick at Night showings of WKRP a number of years back; Suddenly Johnny Fever is playing Achy Breaky Heart(???) because Nick could get the rights to that song, but not the song originally played. The fight for those rights are what kept Heavy Metal out of the home video market for almost 15 years. It was so popular in the pirate video business that the film company and those holding the rights to the music eventually relented and allowed the movie to be released to video and DVD.

It may not be the right way to go about it, but perhaps the unrelenting demand for such shows and movies will convince the studios that there is money to be made by releasing them to the public.

[Jack Burton]

Looking at Marc's blog all I have to say is are people really dying for a DVD bootleg of the Wuzzles? I mean the Gummi Bears I can understand but the Wuzzles??

[Stormbreaker]

I'm quite surprised it took them this long, but at the same time, I wonder why they thought to go to a comic convention to try and find bootleggers. As for the act itself, it's stealing. Sure, the companies have who-knows how many dollars, but it's still stealing. So either don't do it at all or do it in a less obvious place. *Disclaimer: if caught purchasing bootleg DVDs, I assume no responsibility for your actions. We know return you to your regularly scheduled program.*

[BlueThunderArmy]

Originally Posted by VinnyPic

It's Tarentino's film. ... He can sell the version of HIS FILM that he wants.

IIRC, Tarantino's version of "Kill Bill" was one long movie, which the studio made him break up.

Other than that, though, completely agree with you.

[SpyGuy]

Originally Posted by Spaz_Monkey

We may never see WKRP In Cincinnati or The Wonder Years released on DVD, because of the music rights. Think back the Nick at Night showings of WKRP a number of years back; Suddenly Johnny Fever is playing Achy Breaky Heart(???) because Nick could get the rights to that song, but not the song originally played. The fight for those rights are what kept Heavy Metal out of the home video market for almost 15 years. It was so popular in the pirate video business that the film company and those holding the rights to the music eventually relented and allowed the movie to be released to video and DVD.

It may not be the right way to go about it, but perhaps the unrelenting demand for such shows and movies will convince the studios that there is money to be made by releasing them to the public.

The music rights issue concerns me as well, and in another example of the ridiculousness of groups like the RIAA, the upcoming Region 1 set of DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE FIRST SERIES (now available in Canada, by the way) contains edited-down versions of the DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL documentaries that originally aired in the U.K.. The material featuring footage from the original 1963-89 DOCTOR WHO series has been cut out, along with most of the pop music included with the original transmission.

[joshdahl]

[quote=SpyGuy]I love how the mendicants at the RIAA and the MPAA think they're justified in going after bootleggers of material that isn't actually available for legitimate purchase. QUOTE]

WHAT?
Are you saying that is something is not available for legitimate purchase, that it is ok for someone to steal it and then profit off of selling it to other people?
That is insane.
Ok, i own a script that I have written. I have sent copies of it the artists that I am working with.
I have NOT made it available for purchase.
So, if someone were to break into my e-mail account, would they be justified it copying and selling my script? Because i am not making it available?
The whole point of ownership is that th owned gets to decide what to do with that material. If they do not want to release it on vidoe, that is too bad for you.
I ilke how you justify stealing by saying "I deserve it because i want it, and they are stupid for not giving to me."
That is absurd.

Josh Dahl

[POWRSURG]

Since no one in this thread has said it, and people in this thread have gotten it wrong, I guess I'll have to be the guy to remind people:

Selling bootleg material (or uploading/downloading said material) is copyright violation, not stealing/theft.

I'm not saying that it's okay or in any way justifiable to violate copyright law -- it isn't -- but lets actually use the correct terminology here. Please?

Now ... when do we get more GI Joe on DVD?