Man gets maximum fine for leaking movies to the Internet

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge has imposed the maximum fine of $300,000 against a former member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who allegedly leaked "screener" copies of movies that were distributed on the Internet.

Calling the offense "egregious conduct," U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson ordered Carmine Caridi to pay $150,000 each for providing copies of "The Last Samurai" and "Mystic River" to an Illinois man, who then copied them and made them available for online downloads.

Caridi, 70, has told criminal investigators he sent VHS copies of about 60 movies he received each year to his friend, 51-year-old Russell Sprague of Homewood, Ill., who used a software program to convert the VHS tape into DVD format and then sent the original tapes back to Caridi, authorities said.

Movie studios routinely send copies of films to Academy members, who view them as they prepare to vote in various categories for the annual Academy Awards.

In April, Sprague pleaded guilty to one count of copyright infringement for pirating Oscar screener copies of about 200 films including "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" and "Seabiscuit." He is awaiting sentencing.

Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures filed separate civil suits in January. Wilson granted Warner Bros.' motion for a default judgment against Caridi on Nov. 17 after Caridi failed to respond to the suit.

A call placed to Caridi's attorney, Richard Millard, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

"Judge Wilson's award and comments clearly show that due to the viral nature of the Internet, even one illegally used copy of a film can cause significant financial damage," Darcy Antonellis, senior vice president, Worldwide Anti-piracy Operations at Warner Bros. Entertainment said in a statement Tuesday.

Columbia's lawsuit against Caridi is still pending.

In February, the Academy expelled a member for leaking Oscar screeners. The Academy did not name the member, but it was widely believed that it was Caridi.

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