Postby Scotty » Fri May 21, 2010 10:58 am
Taken from Cinemablend.com
Lawsuit Happy Hurt Locker Producer Wishes Jail Time On Dissenters
You might recall one Nicolas Chartier, head honcho over at Voltage Pictures, getting banned from the Oscars for petitioning votes for a little picture he produced called The Hurt Locker. Maybe you saw it in theaters; or maybe you saw it on your computer and Chartier sued you and 50,000 other BitTorrent users for downloading his movie. Well, one brave soul, Boing Boing reader Nicolas, in calm disagreement with Chartier's law suits wrote him a letter to disprove of his actions... but Chartier didn't like that very much. Below is the first correspondence:
-----Original Message-----
From: [redacted]@[redacted].com
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 6:21 PM
To: Nicolas Chartier
Subject: Hurt Locker lawsuit
Dear Mr. Chartier,
I have recently become aware of Voltage Pictures' intention to sue thousands of people who are suspected of having used BitTorrent to download films produced by your company.
I wish to register my disagreement with these tactics, and would like you to know that as a result of these actions I am boycotting your films. The majority of the people you are suing were not seeking to make money from their downloads, and will be financially devastated by a lawsuit or settlement. While it is completely understandable that Voltage Pictures wishes to defend its intellectual property, this is an inhumane way of doing so.
Until Voltage Pictures publicly states that it will not pursue lawsuits for downloading its films, I will not view, rent or buy any films produced wholly or in part by your company. I will urge my friends and family to take the same actions. I do not wish for the money I spend on entertainment to be used against otherwise good people.
Thank you for your time.
Sounds like a pretty stand up guy, exercising his American right to free speech in a kinder manner than most people who dwell on the internet would. Unfortunately, Chartier isn't as friendly with his words, as you can see below:
From: "Nicolas Chartier"
Date: May 15, 2010 2:30:30 AM PDT
To: [redacted]@[redacted].com
Subject: RE: Hurt Locker lawsuit
Hi Nicholas, please feel free to leave your house open every time you go out and please tell your family to do so, please invite people in the streets to come in and take things from you, not to make money out of it by reselling it but just to use it for themselves and help themselves. If you think it's normal they take my work for free, I'm sure you will give away all your furniture and possessions and your family will do the same. I can also send you my bank account information since apparently you work for free and your family too so since you have so much money you should give it away... I actually like to pay my employees, my family, my bank for their work and like to get paid for my work. I'm glad you're a moron who believes stealing is right. I hope your family and your kids end up in jail one day for stealing so maybe they can be taught the difference. Until then, keep being stupid, you're doing that very well. And please do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important HONEST people to watch my films.
best regards,
Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures, LLC
[address, phone, other personal details redacted]
Yikes. Professionalism be damned, eh Chartier? While the producer makes a few valid points about piracy and theft in general, telling someone, who approached you professionally, that you wish jail time on their family and kids is never ok, especially in a setting like this where your reply would surely become news for the greedy internet masses.
It's safe to say we haven't heard the last of this fellow, but for the near future, unless his publicist forces a public apology out of him (unlikely), don't expect any more rants from Nicolas Chartier, president of Voltage Pictures.
