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Geremi Adam, a Montreal film pirate who uploaded high-quality bootlegged films to the Internet, was sentenced Tuesday to nine weeks behind bars plus 100 hours of community service.
Montreal film pirate gets nine weeks behind bars
Updated: Tue Mar. 16 2010 2:32:31 PM
ctvmontreal.ca
Geremi Adam, a Montreal film pirate who uploaded high-quality bootlegged films to the Internet, was sentenced Tuesday to nine weeks behind bars plus 100 hours of community service.
The jail sentence is the first of its kind in Canada for the man once considered by the FBI to be among the most prolific movie pirates in North America.
"I think it's a strong message that if you try to do something like Geremi Adam did, you will face the consequences. You could go to jail," said crown prosecutor Josee Belanger.
Adam, 28, had pleaded guilty earlier to two counts under the Copyright Act, for distributing pirated Hollywood films on the Internet.
He operated under the Internet alias maVen and uploaded some of the highest quality pirated films. The FBI believes he illegally copied dozens of films.
The movies were then distributed for a fee by a network.
"(The FBI) knew the movies were coming from Montreal. That's why they worked hard to grab him," said defence lawyer Richard Brouillard.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, media companies said they were pleased with the strong sentence.
"I'm happy because it's a first time we have prison sentence for this, and I think it's enough to dissuade people," said Brigitte Melancon of Alliance Vivafilm.
Previous charges
Despite the sentence, Adam will be released from prison March 23, because he's been incarcerated since January on other charges.
In 2006, Adam was arrested twice for taping two movies at a Guzzo Cinema and uploading them on to the internet.
Two years later, while his court case was still pending, Adam was caught at the Scotia Bank Cinema downtown doing the same.
Crackdown
The Harper government introduced Bill C-59 in June 2007. It made recording a movie without permission a crime punishable by two years in jail.
Taping a film for future sale or rental carries a maximum five-year jail term.
CrackerJackLee
i don't see where this is Canada's emergency... hollywood is an industry owned by a small segment of america... what should a Canadian care about hollywood...? why should we jump to the bit... and change our laws to accomodate hollywood...? hollywood is a cabal... mobster moguls... how dare they threaten us with censure... let them stop releasing their product in Canada... i bet they never would... they would lose too much money... don't Canadians realize that we are the customer...? who are these people who are dictating to us...?
CrackerJackLee
why do you people watch this crap anyway...? pick up a guitar... an accordion... a good book? get out and mingle... turn off the boob tube and lead your own life... what a giant waste of time... hollywood is owned and run by an immoral cabal of carpet-baggers... ignore them... and their power over you will collapse like a house of cards... they have the lawyers and they bought up all the rights to music, movies and entertainment... they stole and now own everything... you can't even whistle dixie without being sued... i posted a nice video i made on the internet about The Virgin Mary... and i used some classical music... it was removed because the rights to that music are owned by some hollywood company... no wonder the arts are defunct...
Joe
Weird how people are making it sound like , they threw the book at him by giving him 9 weeks. In reality 9 weeks = 10 days. Wow.
Fogetaboutittttt.
JustPukedInMyMouth
What a country!
firstMickey
It would not surprise me if this pirate would be back in business as soon as he is out of jail. What do you expect with such a light sentence?
John
9 weeks? Pointless sentence.
Especially when the official DVDs provided by studios are packed full of crap that gets in the way of WATCHING A MOVIE.
Pirated DVD- pop it in, hit play, and poof! You're watching a movie.
Official DVD -- pop it in, fiddle with controls for 20 minutes, then watch your movie.
Which one makes sense?
user99
The media companies have plenty of money to buy politicians. It's sad that someone gets jail time for copying movies. Take away his video camera and call it a day.
simon
earl jones got less time... what the f@#$
Jay NDG
i saw this report on this so called crime..."CAM" d/l's very poor quality they don't do the film justice and it should not be a crime for the one simple fact...give me a break...
the owner of Guzzo is the worst of the worst he should be put on trial for charging $10 to $15 for popcorn...i download everything i can get my hands on just so i don't have to pay outrageous prices at the movies...and i only see the really good films at the movies and only go on cheap night...i will not give these people my hard earned money...
mc
Hollywood is beyond idiotic and hard to believe their lawyers are beyond that again....
It's OK though, I can still get the uploads from China and Korea most are sneak peeks of studio DVD's (inside job?)
Lock up ALL Canadians
I have recorded a movie without permission before... it was sitting right there, just begging to be copied for future use... I couldn't sit down and watch it right at that moment.... all the recording equip was at hand ready to go; I also did not know at what level I should obtain permission to make the copy... so with only seconds to react I popped in a blank VHS and hit the record button....
Harper's vague, in-concise and generalized laws are making a mockery of freedom..., and this country... if it were up to him he would devise laws vague enough to lock up everyone in the lowest 2 tier tax brackets (he's moving that way as we speak)... get this piece of trash PM out he is only valuable to the wealthy class.
What a Paulbag!
fat cats like there money
yet someone can defraud for 50 million and get 11 months in jail..... this kid wasn't paid, at 4.99$ a rental ( at blockbuster ... just an example..) it would be over 10 million downloads..... he didn't get that high.... shows that if the right people get paid anything is possible......
GOOD LUCK ROBBIN HOOD....
mike
stop raising the prices to buy and rent movies. Stop raising the price for cable.
The real criminals are cable and satellite providers.
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