'You're a Moron': Nicolas Chartier Isn't Done With His E-Bashing Crusade
If you're going to get barred from accepting your Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards, then you'd better get your money's worth. That's the predicament facing Nicolas Chartier, the intrepid producer and e-mail wack job who has followed his ill-advised awards-season attacks on Avatar with a little better-advised (but still insane) on a defender of Hurt Locker pirates. Read on for the e-evidence.
You'll remember that Chartier's shingle Voltage Pictures plans one of the most sweeping anti-piracy lawsuits in history: Tens of thousands of BitTorrent users may be affected to the tune of a few thousand dollars per infraction. The move drew the ire of one moviegoer in Toronto, who addressed a note to Chartier saying he'd boycott any Voltage Pictures releases in solidarity with the targets of its suit.
Naturally, Chartier had a response, which yesterday made its way online:
From: "Nicolas Chartier"
Date: May 15, 2010 2:30:30 AM PDT
To: [redacted]@[redacted].com
Subject: RE: Hurt Locker lawsuit
Hi Nicholas, please feel free to leave your house open every time you go out and please tell your family to do so, please invite people in the streets to come in and take things from you, not to make money out of it by reselling it but just to use it for themselves and help themselves. If you think it's normal they take my work for free, I'm sure you will give away all your furniture and possessions and your family will do the same. I can also send you my bank account information since apparently you work for free and your family too so since you have so much money you should give it away... I actually like to pay my employees, my family, my bank for their work and like to get paid for my work. I'm glad you're a moron who believes stealing is right. I hope your family and your kids end up in jail one day for stealing so maybe they can be taught the difference. Until then, keep being stupid, you're doing that very well. And please do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important HONEST people to watch my films.
best regards,
Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures, LLC
Sigh. Don't ever change, Nic.
· Hurt Locker producer: Criticizing our lawsuits makes you a moron and a thief [Boing Boing via Vulture]
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Comments
And what is wrong about what he wrote, exactly? If someone is going to take the time to declare their boycott of his films because he is protecting his intellectual property, they ARE a moron. Good for Chartier.
Can you see the subtle difference between stealing someone's furniture and viewing a film without removing it from circulation?
Aside from the obvious fact that the film doesn't vanish from it's owner's hand, theft is a Criminal Code offence while copyright violation is a civil infringement on a civil right which may or more likely may not have a measurable effect on the owner at all. A speculative loss is literally worth nothing but free exposure tends to fill the seats and sell plastic with remarkable efficiency. Just ask Radiohead how well giving away "In Rainbows" on the internet worked for their bottom line.
Simply calling downloading illegal or stealing in the face of established fact to the otherwise does more to cast doubt on the speaker's intelligence and intentions than it could possibly make an argument for condemning an infringed right to copy anything, much less something thought to have monetary value.
Claiming that one will have to lay off employees or that their paycheques are on the line because of mere speculative losses is more of an admission that one would first choose to victimize his own employees when profits soften and then pass off the responsibility on the very same audience he holds in contempt. This is no way to inspire loyalty and confidence on the set and with shareholders.
That is the first part of what is wrong with the above rant. The other is far more obvious to all, that being you should try to avoid attacking a member of your intended audience in such a comically overplayed manner that leads both the public and one's own community to question your stability and profitability. Let your lawyers do the talking when it comes to copyright and legal matters and the first thing they will show you is how to hold your tongue when emotions and the stakes both run high.
Content wants to be free! tweedle dee! Content wants to be free!
Least that's what I've heard.
I'm banning all Voltage Pictures films Here is alist of moveis that I will not pay for:
Born to Raise Hell – Steven Seagal (Should be easy to pass on)
Game of Death – Wesley Snipes (Again Easy)
Mr. Nobody – Val Kilmer
The Whistleblower - Rachel Weisz
20 Funerals (Drama)
Abandoned (Thriller)
Company You Keep, The (Thriller)
Faces in The Crowd (Thriller)
Good Doctor, The (Thriller)
Hybrid (Action)
Once Fallen (Crime/Action Drama )
Sacrifice (Thriller/Action)
Transylmania (Comedy)
Tucker & Dale vs Evil (Comedy)
Voltage production TV Shows:
Leverage
Very simple situation really, any movie I want to see I simply take out of the library for free, that way when I watch crappy movies like Hurt Locker I won't feel ripped off. Incidentally, I only got about 20 minutes into the movie and stopped watching it because it was so crappy and violent.