COPYCENSE

"Warner Bros. has secured a $309,600 judgment against an actor for allegedly making promotional ‘screener’ copies of ‘The Last Samurai‘ and ‘Mystic River‘ available for bootleg DVD copying and unauthorized Internet trading, the studio said Tuesday.

"Studio officials say Carmine Caridi, a former recurring actor on ‘NYPD Blue,’ has refused to respond to their civil suit for copyright infringement, forcing them to ask the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to enter a default judgment of $150,000 per film and $9,600 in attorney fees.

"Judge Stephen Wilson granted that request, adding that the defendant’s conduct was ‘particularly egregious’ because of the intentional and deliberate nature of the infringement."

Jesse Hiestand Actor Must Pay $309,600 in Film Piracy Case. WashingtonPost.com. Nov. 24, 2004.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

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