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Last we heard from Nicolas Chartier, he paid a high price for sending an infamous e-mail asking Oscar voters to choose The Hurt Locker over a “$500M” rival. Some felt that the Academy came down too harshly by banning Chartier from attending the Academy Awards and accepting his Best Picture trophy. Well, guess what? Chartier is still firing off e-mails! And he, too, can be pretty harsh. The website Boingboing.net got hold of a Chartier missive sent to ”Nicholas” who objected to his plan to sue BitTorrent users who downloaded the film:
From: “Nicolas Chartier”
Date: May 15, 2010 2:30:30 AM PDT
To: [redacted]@[redacted].com
Subject: RE: Hurt Locker lawsuitHi 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
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What a fucking loser.
Anonymous, you’re a fucking loser.
What Chartier says is exactly right. The same thieves who download are the same fuckheads who want to be paid when they crawl out of their basements and report to work. Chartier has balls. Long live Chartier.
I think you’re a fucking loser for thinking im a fucking loser and Chartier is not…
That was one of the most arrogant disrespectful emails I’ve ever read… I’d hunt him down and kick the shit out of that little French-fried fuck if he ever wrote something like that about my family.
Anonymous, don’t dish out what you can’t take. Chartier’s email is not as arrogant or disrespectful as your post. He’s 100% right. Illegal downloads are theft. The sooner there is a change in the way society treats copyright theft, the better. Italy estimates that 172,000 people lost their jobs in the entertainment business in 2009 alone, because of copyright theft. It’s robbing people of their livelihood and the people most hurt are the ones near the bottom of the ladder. Copyright theft is not okay, and it is not a victimless crime. And if you go around using bad language and calling people losers, expect to get the same kind of treatment in return.
italy says that in an industry known for hundred million dollar box office bombs, two hundred thousand people lost their jobs because thousands of people didn’t pay ten dollars to the studios through a system that costs pennies on the back end? is that just in italy? mostly music? when the comment is the only google result for the statistic, i worry
i am not defending copyright infringement and i don’t disagree with nicholas, but if there are not enough people watching videos online to successfully monetize it, there are DEFINITELY not enough people illegally downloading video to lose any real amount of money (chinese dvd distributors notwithstanding)
Correction, the actual job loss figure for Italy was 185,000 http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Piracy-causes-185000-lost-jobs-in-Italy/100469.php
it’s not theft, it’s copyright infringement at the most. furthermore, people who pirate movies aren’t gonna buy the movie either way. they’re either gonna watch the movie for free, or not at all. also, i will say from personal experience that with all the shit that’s out there, i like to screen movies that i plan on buying via torrents before actually shelling out $20-$30 for a blu-ray. chartier is an unprofessional ass who is trying to cover his own nut since his movie didn’t make any money in the box office. Maybe instead of lashing out at the online community, he should re-evaluate his own work…
Three losers in a row, though #2 is the least offensive.
Louis, I am sugar and you are glue, whatever you say about me sticks to you.
Okay “anonymous”.
You are anonymous. You are simple and stupid. You could not kick anyone’s ass and are too fat to find your own. Anonymously brave. Anonymously moronic.
“… I’d hunt him down and kick the shit out of that little French-fried fuck if he ever wrote something like that about my family.”
Yeah, right. You don’t even have the fucking balls to put your name up. Once a loser, always a loser.
I’m with Ananymous. Are you guys really supporting that prick????
What if you wrote a civil/respectful email to someone and they responded with an asshole threatening email against your family?
And as far as remaining ananymous goes… Are you kidding me?… You’d have to be an idiot to put your real name and this site.
I agree 100% with Nicholas Chartier. Stealing copyright is stealing period. Most industry execs are afraid to be quoted publically. Not Chartier – a real stand up guy. He is projecting his copyrights and rightly so.
This producer is a douche. Copyright…yeah, got it…it’s illegal to download. It, unfortunately, is legal for this guy to act like a dickwad…fucking Frenchy….
No worries though. That movie isn’t worth downloading anyway, so he’s safe.
LMAO, that was a nice burn. Although I did like the movie for what it was. But this guy’s movie still won all the kitten-kabootle and he still talks shit on the e-mails? I can’t argue with what point he’s making, but bringing the guy’s family into it and still talking shit to people after all the success his movie has had with awards and everything?…what a total douche.
What’s the upshot with all the name-calling? It seems a terrible act of immaturity. And it’s everywhere.
I agree…
The guy’s an asshole and I think a lot of the people who didn’t avoid business with him after the last dumb email round will now finally do so after this, even more egregious, one.
Please, you should live every day being selfless and giving. Piracy is the best compliment, it means your work is wanted. Bit torrent gives viewers a glimps and will then hire it or buy it afterwards if its liked. For someone to rant over a good objection to spend hours, money and time chasing down a bit torrenter, even if you shut the whole site down something else will pop up in weeks. Think of Microsoft, they spent so much on protecting there property that it rised the cost of the software and made it more profitable to pirate. I find this letter to be short sighted and nothing more than a rant, most smart honest people I know prefer to use file sharing as the cost of DVDs and films are too high and too hard
You gotta love this guy. He should start a side business writing emails for people that want to tell someone off.
Finally, someone in Hollywood who is not a sheep conforming to the kiss everyone’s butt rule.
Harlan Ellison said it better (and funnier).
Shizz,
I love that clip of Mr. Ellison. I’m with him and I’m not a writer, by the way. It compelled me to read some of his books.
Nicholas Chartier is badassss!!!!!
Oy vey — the frenchie strikes again … go back to selling Malibu shark, and Segal movies
Way to learn your lesson, Nick.
Very well putt Nicolas! – Finally a producer who says the truth. Sick and tired of peeps stealing my money.
Your money?
I’m with Chartier 100%. OK, maybe 90%, name calling is counterproductive. The comments on the original site are enlightening. Many people evidently really don’t grasp intellectual property rights, rights which are protected by the Constitution for the betterment of our society.
Och, You guys knew absolutely nothing about intellectual rights when you were ripping of Charles Dickens. Apparently that was ok then, when it was his money, but it’s not ok now ’cause it’s your money. There must be somewhere on this godforsaken plant where someone is NOT havin a hissy-fit over the fact that they might have been done out of their next hummer?
What Dickens rip off are you referring to Aileen?
Um… I don’t know what you’re referring to with the Dickens bit… but I thought copyrighted material became public domain in the US after the artist/author’s life +50yrs? And even then Dickens was English and so wouldn’t have had copyright in the US.
So his name is Nicolas and the guy he is wrighting to is Nicholas?
Weird… and pretty harsh. His film would have never been so popular if it weren’t for the internet and prob wouldn’t have won the Oscar as a result
His film was not popular because of the internet.In fact it wasn’t popular with the internet crowd. It did very little business at the box office. And winning the oscar has nothing to do with internet chatter, since 90% of the academy voters are older and barely know how to use a computer.
but their grandkids do, and they’re the ones who vote for mama and papa.
but their grandkids do, and they’re the ones who vote for mama and papa.
I am a longtime Academy member/voter, and I have been computer literate since there were home computers. No one determines my votes except me. Among the many common myths about Academy voters are, oddly, that they are swayed by silly enticements or ads extraneous to the merits of the category, or that others vote for them, or that they don’t take the import of their votes seriously, or that they simply pay no attention at all. I can tell you that I, and the vast majority of my colleagues, take it all quite seriously, put in a lot of effort in our evaluations, and are quite competent with computers. Hence this reply. Cheers.
What a cocky little prick… And a stupid cocky little prick at that… He should know better than to put something like that in writing.
I agree… Didn’t the guy put up his house to pay for the movie?… After reading that cocky arrogant oh-so-French email, I hope the guy loses his house and ends up on the streets…
Don’t be a total dick, just like him.
He’s not going to end up on the streets. The film took $16m US domestic and has done good DVD. Unless the public find a reason to suddenly hate the film it will continue to do good business and TV sales.
What I want to know is who pays the Iraqis who lost their lives and without whom there would be no film and no Oscar in Nicholas’ cupboard. Any ideas?
Perhaps filesharers could start donating to the Red Cross?
how is the truth arrogant (or oh-so-French for that matter)? there seems to be a whole cabal of folks reading DHD — and a whole lot more who don’t — who seem to think there’s no problem w/ illegally downloading movies, TV shows, music, whatever? you don’t want to pay for movies but still wanna watch them? I get it. I don’t want to pay my electric bill but still like having things like say, electricity, so i pay my fucking bill. same thing w/ people who bitch about Variety not being free. or the head of Amazon bragging about reading newspapers for free on his kindle. it’s not Hollywood’s fucking job to entertain you for free, assholes. this shit has to end.
Okay, maybe I wouldn’t let anyone go into my house and take my TV and computer and other valuable possessions away. But if they had magical technology that would *copy* my TV and computer and clothes and stuff that wasn’t too private, so that they’d have stuff and I’d keep my stuff?…
Mikejonas, certified genius. Okay, so like, if we were living in caves and had no concept of intellectual property law, it would like be okay if someone invented a magical machine that could copy my Stone Age TV. We live in the 21st Century and we have a society that is largely based on intellectual property. Using your magical machine argument, what if Honda stole Ford’s design plans for next year’s new cars? Would we all say, “No bother, we still have our plans, we can both make the exact same models.” What if someone simply copied and pasted all of Nikki Finke’s wonderful content? She would still have her website, but someone else could host an exact replica at DeadlineHollydood.com. The damage done by intellectual property theft is not measured by how much harm is caused in the commission of the theft, it is measured in how much harm is caused by the free availability of illegal copies and the inability of the creator to commercially exploit what they have made because so many free copies are available. I wish people would just stop being so cheap and stop expecting to get things for free. People are losing their jobs because individuals are too cheap to shell out a few bucks for a legal download, DVD or theater ticket. Illegal downloading is theft, no matter how many stupid arguments people try to come up with to make it sound like it’s okay. Stop stealing.
morally he may be right, but when you call someone a moron, stupid, etc. in writing, you are basically burning that bridge. Did Nicky want to do that?
I recognize an anger problem. This bro needs to chill out.
one thing is for sure, regardless of his credit and award, chartier never produced anything, ever.
hello there.
I will do a LIVE segment on my transmedia show tomorrow 10h20.
Anyone would like to get in ?
#realtimerealite
If you follow the BoingBoing link and read the letter that the (other) Nicolas wrote to Chartier, you’ll see that the original letter writer was civil and even acknowledged Chartier’s IP rights. The original letter writer just didn’t like Chartier’s lawsuits. Chartier, in response, was unhinged and ridiculous.
Chartier’s sending shakedown letters, he’s not on some high horse.
I don’t know, he might have been high. The email he sent was time stamped 2:30 am afetr all…
Tacky to bring up the guys kids.
Another out of touch moron.
“And please do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important HONEST people to watch my films.”
But Nicholas… NOBODY watches your films.
He should be above name calling and bringing up kids. That’s pushing too far – but his movie was the best of last year. Who cares who watched it. A lot of people watched Couples Retreat and It’s Complicated – they sucked. Would be more proud to have produced Hurt Locker.
“[H]is movie was the best of last year.”
According to the Oscar voters, but not according to the people who buy tickets who, overwhelmingly, decided Avatar was the best movie of the year.
So, the best movie is the one which sells the most tickets?
It’s Complicated did not suck.
I agree with you Nicholas Chartier!!! I can not believe the audacity of people that think they can just STEAL our movies,TV shows, and music. These are peoples livelihoods on the line here. How else are we gonna make other new content and livings without people paying for the service we provide. Thanks for speaking up!!!
Why would he pay his family?
“keep being stupid, you’re doing that very well”
well, he is the expert.
It’s called stealing. It’s illegal. People who steal films and TV off the interwebs don’t realize they not only hurt the so-called fat-cat producers but everyone down the line. Any douche bag who steals deserves prosecution. The French fried cocky little prick is right.
It’s not called stealing, it’s called file sharing. Just because you and this douche call it stealing doesn’t make it so. Is it stealing if I go over to a friend’s house and watch the movie that he bought on DVD? Is it stealing if he gives me the DVD and I watch it at home? Is it stealing if I then pass it along to my brother an he watches it with his family, then his wife passes it to her brother, and so on? When does that become stealing? I know, someone out there probably thinks we should pay every time the disc is played, but, guess what, get over it. There are some movies I will never, ever, ever pay to rent. Then again, I will buy a movie for $4 if I can keep it, play it whenever, and it’s DRM free so that I don’t have to play it on any particular platform. If movie studios would do that, then they could make some money. As it is, 2008 and 2009 broke all kinds of box office records, so I don’t know what the hell studios are bitching about.
And District 9 was better than The Hurt Locker. So there.
“…It’s not called stealing, it’s called file sharing…”
Oh, silly me. I forgot…it’s not sex — it was only a blow job.
Labeling the passing around of a tangible object — DVD — amongst family members, as theft, is a stretch. However, if said family members made their own copies of the DVD content during its respective pit stops in their domiciles, a different conversation could be had. It’s still theft. However, preventing the theft is impossible for obvious reasons.
On the other hand, when someone at an internet company posts copies of works/IP on their servers — in country or otherwise — and invites the cybersphere to download…er…”fileshare” the works/IP that, heretofore, have not been designated as opensource or any other iteration of “free” it’s called “stealing”.
And since you don’t have a problem with people not being paid for their services/products let me know when you’re available to do my windows — you’ll save me a fortune. So there.
its called the first sale doctrine. once you buy the dvd, the owner of that dvd can do with it as he wishes. he can loan it to people, he can charge money to rent it, he can sell it at a profit or for a loss.
-RnsW
“Sharing” something you don’t have permission to “share” is called theft. When you buy a DVD you are buying ownership of the disc. You can play it or give it to whomever you like. Just because technology makes it possible to disseminate the same product widely over the internet doesn’t make it legal. More than that, it doesn’t make it right.
It is clear the difference between which posters here actually work in the entertainment business and those whose closest encounter with the movies is scanning the credits at IMDB. If you actually had any practical understanding of the economy of the business and the people who depend on it, you wouldn’t be firing off asinine platitudes about “fat cat producers” and “back end” and “hundred million dollar bombs.” Those who do look foolish.
People’s livelihoods are at stake, and the vast majority are not wealthy people. Rather they are crafts men and women who are being fleeced by solipsistic jerks spinning sophistry trying to rationalize their theft.
The sad irony is, most of the people making excuses are clearly people on the fringes, trying to claw their way into a business that they are simultaneously attempting to seriously weaken. May they be talented and hard working enough to cobble together a career for themselves in time to see the error of their ways.
It becomes stealing when you do something the copyright holder says you’re not allowed to do. Let me put it in terms that even the most simple-minded fool can understand.
When you buy a DVD you do not own anything other than the packaging and the right to show what is on the DVD in your own home. You acquire no rights of ownership in the product on the DVD. The copyright holder owns whatever is on the DVD. And like all owners of anything, they can say what you are allowed to do with the thing that they own.
You own your car. You can say who you want to drive it, when they can use it, what they are allowed to do with it. If someone came along and took your car without your permission, but tried to justify it by saying that you suffered no loss because you weren’t going to be using it anyway, or said that you have too much money and can buy another car, they would be prosecuted for theft.
The copyright holder of a film is the owner of a film. They can specify how their property should be treated by the rest of the world. It is not relevant how rich they are, or whether you would have legally downloaded their property or not – we have no right to peer beyond ownership and make qualatative judgments about who it is right and wrong to steal from. Everyone on these boards expects their property rights to be protected, have the decency to treat others the way you expect to be treated yourselves. Copyright infringement is theft. It is not a victimless crime.
so when i walk into your house and eat your food, i’m not taking it from you, you’re sharing it with me. you moron.
It’s stealing. Call it what you like.
Didn’t the Hurt Locker producers themselves get sued for stealing much of the movie’s story from an actual soldier? Irony is yummy.
People who get offended by saucy emails need to die.
Hi Nicolas Chartier, you are a fucking moron. First of all, who the hell are you to be mentioning anyone elses family members in a business related email? If you sent that to me, I’d go out of my way to make your professional life a living hell. In fact, I might just do that anyway. Secondly, here’s a news flash for you Nicolas: No one watches “your” movies. You are a fucking sales agent, hardly a real producer who deserves an Oscar for a movie that blew ass and didn’t make any money.
Pirating hurts, we know. You aren’t the only person in this industry who’s been effected by it. But you know what, Nicolas? It’s never going to stop. We live in a digital age. If you release a film to the public it’s going to get ripped. I’d advise you to be happy with your golden statue and refrain from sending childish and above all us, unproductive emails that serve no other purpose then to reveal what little class you have. If you’d like to go out and personally reprimand every thief that’s downloaded The Hurt Locker, then I suggest you start with me. I’m downloading that piece of shit right now, and you know what? I’m not even going to watch it when I’m done. I’m going to burn 10,000 copies and have them delivered to your front door step.
Nicolas, please don’t draft pointless emails and attack people who do not deserve to be attacked with personal blows. Please don’t “produce” anymore movies, and please don’t ever make me waste my time like this again. You French Fuck.
Awww poor BG, I got an Oscar and he says hello. What do you have? Who’s the fucking loser? Dumbfuck.
BG
So you are illiterate – the word is “affected”
You are xenophobic- calling someone French
You are a thief- admitting to piracy
You are a fraud- you aren’t doing any of the things you claim. Make his life a misery? Yours is so empty that’s why you eat so much mac and cheese.
They aren’t reprimanding thieves like you- they are suing them and winning. I hope your ip # is next BG you stupid, cowarly loser.
A Tree in The Forest… Probably the name of your screenplay that you will never sell. Or finish.
I do eat a lot of mac and cheese. And so what if I wish to display my uncritical exaltation for another culture? Fuck you.
By the way, it’s, COWARDLY.
A word you live your life by, while you clean out public bathrooms you worthless sack of skin.
Please just stop writing.
The problem isn’t that its stealing, its that they’re going about it the wrong way.
What is the solution to solving this Internet theft problem? Who knows, but it isn’t to just sue as many people as you can. Look how well that’s working out for the music industry.
I do agree with Chartier’s sentiment, just not his fervor.
But there is a little irony in the fact that “Hurt Locker” didn’t properly credit the person whom the project was based (http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/03/hurt.locker.lawsuit/index.html). Stealing life rights shouldn’t be okay for Chartier.