Police bust nets $800K in pirated DVDs

[bloodstainedwings]

Bob Mitchell
Staff Reporter

Sellers of pirated DVDs were making thousands of dollars every weekend at a Mississauga flea market until they were shut down this past weekend, police said today.

In some cases, customers placed orders for movies and television series from the bootleg entrepreneurs.

"We had a 21-year-old kid bragging that he was making $15,000 a weekend," Peel Det. Sgt. John Mans said. "He had the potential to make $60,000 a month and we think he was in business for six months so he could have made over $300,000.".

The young man was among the 18 people arrested on Sunday when Peel Police raided a dozen booths at flea markets on Mavis Rd. in Mississauga and on Dundas St. near Hwy 427 in Toronto.

Another eight people are being sought, police said

Altogether 22 different locations were entered with search warrants, including several homes and businesses in Peel, Toronto, Halton and York..

More than 40,000 bootleg DVDs worth a minimum $800,000 were seized under the six-month probe dubbed Project Hollywood.

Among the locations raided were homes in Scarborough and Markham from where police alleged the pirated DVDs were being distributed.

"One of the houses we entered had 7,000 movies alone," Mans said. "We also seized equipment that we've been told was capable of turning out $21 million a year in these illegal DVDs," Mans said.

Hundreds of the pirated DVDs that were seized were on display today at a news conference at Peel Police headquarters in Brampton.

Canada has become known as a worldwide source for the distribution of bootleg movies, police said.

Gary Osmond, director of investigations for anti-piracy operations at the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, said today that movie piracy affects not only the major Hollywood studios but also a wide spectrum of artists, manufacturers, distributors, producers, retailers, theatre operators, employees, consumers, and governments.

"It is recognized as a serious and growing problem throughout the world," he said..

Police believe organized crime is likely behind the multimillion-dollar illegal industry.

Movies were being sold for $5 or five for $20, Mans said.

"It resembled the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange with $20 bills in their hands in the air," Mans said. "It was like a feeding frenzy."

Movies still playing in theatres and not available in video stores were also sold, Mans said.

"Our undercover officers placed an order for 300 copies of Spider-Man 3 the day after it opened in theatres," Mans said.

Recently-released films such as The Simpson's Movie and The Bourne Ultimatum were also available on a made-to-order basis, Mans said.

"People from all walks were buying these movies when I was there," Mans said. "This old guy in a motor scooter wanted the Rome television series and was told he could pick it up in a week.

Investigators began targeting the sellers and their suppliers after receiving several tips from Peel Crime Stoppers in January and February.

"Initially, there were about four booths operating at the Mavis Rd. flea market but it grew to a dozen by the time we made the arrests," Mans said.

"There were booths with thousands of these DVDs on the walls while others were a little more clandestine with binders on tables that you could look through and then the DVD would be pulled from under a table."

Police said the pirate DVDs are usually secretly filmed by people with camcorders inside movie theatres. But it now appears that people in the motion picture industry are supplying master copies to the main suppliers of the illegal industry.

Police believe the DVDs likely changed hands several times before arriving at the vendors.

"They're being produced for 80 cents to $1 and then sold to another person for about $2 to $3 and the vendor sells them to customers for $4 to $5," Mans said.

"The investigation has revealed that this is demand-driven enterprise. Public awareness is key in recognizing that attending these open-air markets and purchasing these products constitutes a criminal offence. At the end of it all, people need to realize that their actions are nothing short of supporting organized crime."

Police said the investigation is ongoing and further arrests and charges are anticipated. Investigators will be liaising with additional investigative agencies, such as Revenue Canada and the Provincial Proceeds of Crime Unit.

Altogether, 17 adults and one youth have been charged with fraud and possession of property obtained by crime. They were released on their own recognizance and are to make their first court appearance on Sept. 20 in Brampton.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by bloodstainedwings

More than 40,000 bootleg DVDs Peel, Toronto, Halton and York..worth a minimum $800,000 were seized under the six-month probe dubbed Project Hollywood.

That means the DVDs were worth "a minimum" of $20 each, but then we read this quote:

Originally Posted by bloodstainedwings

"They're being produced for 80 cents to $1 and then sold to another person for about $2 to $3 and the vendor sells them to customers for $4 to $5," Mans said.

Which indicates that the value of 40,000 DVDs would be at most $200,000 if all sold for $5 each.

Of course it's possible that the "stated value" would be what the same legit version DVD would retail for at a non-discount store. This way Hollywood can use this kind of figuring to say such things as: Bootleg DVDs cost the industry 'X-number' of billions of dollars, - assuming that every person who bought a bootleg would have gone to a non-discount retailer and paid full mark-up price for the DVD. Of course that wouldn't be the case, and then, the studios still only get a percent of the sale, so that's another consideration.

Having been the victim of bootleg DVDs from Canada (through the mail), I'm not promoting DVD bootlegging, and don't think anybody should knowingly purchase such either, and the bootleggers should be shut down as in the manner described in the message.

However, I always find the accounting methods used to assign value to counterfeit goods interesting. Particularly the Hollywood style of accounting where films end up making no money once it comes time to payout the royalties to the talent.

The kid that bragged about making so much cash, if he did make many thousands, will post bail and get a good lawyer, and will probably end up with some sort of deal. But wait until the income tax agency gets wind of his income, ha.

I like this quote in particular: "The investigation has revealed that this is demand-driven enterprise." Well, what isn't such in the private business sector? They had to have an investigation to figure that out?

Just a way of warning that they're going to arrest and charge those who buy counterfeits. Could be that's easier and safer than going after organized mob criminals, and brings in plenty of money through fines on regular citizens, rather than the tough work of fighting a good mob lawyer using a well-built case.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by bloodstainedwings

Bob Mitchell
Staff Reporter


Canada has become known as a worldwide source for the distribution of bootleg movies, police said.

I reported this a while ago and still blame Canada for many things!

[rixrex]

I never realized about bootlegs being so available in Canada until I got a group of 16 DVDs off ebay from a fellow there. They were actually pretty good counterfeits. Out of the 16, it was only obvious on about 3 or 4 that I watched, but then I gave them to a friend who works in DVD mastering and he said they were all counterfeit. But I must admit they were better dupes than I'd ever seen before.

Then a little while later, my home got burglarized and they stole all the dupes. So I guess they ended up on the underground market somewhere. Funny thing is that they took DVDs that were replacable at little cost (relatively speaking) and left my rather expensive equipment behind. Too much effort for their small minds.

I like Canada for great scenery and outdoors activities, super beer, nice towns and cities, friendly folks, their 'play well or punt' style of football, but not the counterfeit DVDs, yet apparently they have the best counterfeits around.