Illegal copies of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" have already begun appearing on the Internet, days before the film is scheduled to hit theaters.
Warner Bros., the studio that produced and distributes the movie, confirmed Wednesday that pirated copies of the movie have popped up on Internet sites that regularly offer illegal copies of first-run films. "The illegal copying and distribution of movies is theft," the studio said in a statement issued late Tuesday. "Warner Bros. takes the threat of Internet piracy very seriously and employs all legal means to contain the unauthorized copying and distribution of our films on the Internet." Pirated copies of films, often grainy, jumpy versions taped using a handheld camera at a pre-premiere screening, regularly show up on the Internet before a movie hits theaters. "As long as they are showing premiers and as long as post-production have access to the film, it's very hard to prevent this from happening," said Andrew Frank, vice president for an Internet software and services firm. That may be the case with "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," which was shown to the public in a special "sneak preview" screening last weekend in New York and in London earlier this month. The movie opens nationally on Friday. The early, inferior copies often are soon replaced by better versions that pirates make by bribing a theater projectionist and mounting a camera on a tripod in a projection booth. Other high-quality versions, called "screeners," are sneaked from post-production houses, where final production work is regularly done on prints of films destined for theaters. (Agencies) | 备受瞩目的电影《哈里波特与密室》还没来得及进入各大院线开始上映,影片的盗版却已经通过因特网"登堂入室"了。 11月13日,影片的生产和发布商华纳兄弟公司证实,在一些经常提供首映电影盗版的网站,最近赫然出现了《哈里波特与密室》的盗版电影。 华纳公司于12号发布了一份声明,其中提到:"对于影片的非法复制和传播是一种盗窃行为。华纳兄弟公司一向把网络盗版看成是对电影事业的严重威胁,势必运用一切法律手段来打击网络盗版。" 盗版电影一般是在影片首映前的放映会上用手提摄像机偷拍的。画面往往有明显雪花,图象也很闪烁。一般早于影片公映的时间而出现在网上。
一家网络软件服务公司的副总裁安德鲁·弗兰克对此有他的看法:"只要他们(电影公司)进行试映,或者影片的后期制作能够有机会接近影片,盗版就很难被制止。" 也许《哈里波特与密室》被盗版也正是由于这些原因。因为尽管影片定于11月15日公映,但上周末和本月初却已经分别在纽约和伦敦举行了小规模的试映会。也许投机分子正是从试映会上觅得下手机会的。 不法分子进行盗版的手段也各不相同。有的买通了电影放映员,在放映室里支起三脚架、装上摄像机进行偷拍,这样的盗版质量要比早期用便携摄像机拍出的效果更好。 但质量最高的当属从后期工作室中偷到的版本了。因为后期工作室是最后完成电影胶片并送往各影院的地方。在这里获得的盗版自然比较接近电影的“最终效果”。 (中国日报网站译) |