Watchdog sues 14 for sales of pirated DVDs

Tony Eaton says piracy is costing the film industry billions worldwide. Picture / Richard Robinson

A copyright watchdog has sued 14 New Zealanders for selling pirated movies on internet auction sites and warns that more prosecutions will follow.

The New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft said civil lawsuits had been filed against the 14, who between them sold more than 10,000 pirated DVDs on NZ websites, including Trade Me.

It is the first time the federation, which is the Motion Picture Association's piracy watchdog in New Zealand, has taken civil action over sales of pirated movies.

The federation would not disclose the amounts involved in the lawsuits, but said the sellers had made tens of thousands of dollars and settlements in the same vicinity were sought.

"These 14 people were making some serious money," director of operations Tony Eaton said.

They had each paid "substantial" settlements and agreed to cease sales and hand over any pirated movies they still possessed.

But he said stopping those sellers was only a small victory in the battle against movie piracy.

Worldwide, the Motion Picture Association estimates the problem cost the film industry US$6.1 billion ($9.9 billion) in potential revenue last year.

The pirated copies that were the basis of the civil proceedings were found in the past 12 months and included Capote, Lord of the Rings, and Sione's Wedding.

The federation has made nine criminal prosecutions this year following investigations involving police and the Department of Internal Affairs.

In those cases, the help of the other agencies was needed to identify the sellers, but the 14 prosecuted in the civil lawsuits were found by monitoring sites such as Trade Me.

Mr Eaton said many pirated copies featured a "9" rather than the "4", which is New Zealand's legal code for classifying DVDs. Plastic sleeves instead of covers also "ring warning bells".

The federation has four more civil proceedings under way.

Criminal prosecutions have included Auckland man Benjamin Samu, who in February was fined $1000 and ordered to do 300 hours' community work for selling pirated DVDs at the Otahuhu markets.

Another Aucklander, John Houston, is due to be sentenced next month on 21 charges of copyright theft.

Mr Eaton said movie piracy not only sapped the global film industry of potential revenue, "it hurts the film producers of New Zealand, the New Zealand actors like Oscar Kightley, and it also comes down to the video store owner who's working on a Sunday night trying to rent a video when people are buying them for $5 off the internet".