Download Free Online Movies

Los Angeles -- The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), on behalf of the major motion picture studios, today filed a lawsuit against the operators of 22 websites that encourage and facilitate movie piracy. These pirate scam websites, operated by at least twelve people located in New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, Florida and Texas, falsely claim or imply that by using their services consumers can download free online movies legally on the Internet. In fact, they merely connect users to peer-to-peer sites where they then illegally download movies. By doing so, the consumer is then committing copyright infringement which can have serious consequences.

“There are plenty of ways to download free online movies legally on the Internet,” said Chairman and CEO of MPAA Dan Glickman. “Consumers should not be fooled by scam businesses that lure them by claiming to be legal movie download services and then direct them to illegal sites. With these lawsuits we hope to protect consumers and punish those who are profiting off of the hard work of filmmakers all over the world.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District Court of New York against 22 websites including — allmoviedownloads.com, Flixks.net, freedvddirect.com, mykazaa.com, and unlimiteddownloads.com. The websites typically charge a subscription fee of anywhere from $20 for a three month trial to $40 for lifetime membership to download free online movies in unlimited numbers from peer-to-peer networks, including movies still in theaters. These downloads are unauthorized and illegal. The lawsuit asks for a court order prohibiting the websites’ continued operation.

This is the fourth round of lawsuits the MPAA has filed against pirate scam websites. In the first case against Click Enterprises, Inc., the court issued a permanent injunction closing four scam websites and awarding the movie studios over $468,000 in damages.

In the second case against three defendants, the studios obtained court orders prohibiting the websites’ continued operation and were awarded over $48,000 in damages against one defendant as well as consent judgments of $100,000 each against the other two defendants. In the most recent case, the studios obtained consent judgments of $100,000 each in damages against the operators of two websites, and remain in various stages of litigation with others.

The motion picture industry and the MPAA have a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy to download free online movies, which includes educating people about the consequences of piracy, taking action against Internet thieves, working with law enforcement authorities around the world to root out pirate operations and working to ensure movies are available legally through advanced technology.

Consumers should be cautious when visiting sites that offer downloads and should look for tell-tale signs that they might be visiting a scam site. Consumers should look-out for terms like "Unlimited Movie Downloads," "Download Free Online Movies," "100% legal," and "Millions of Files Sharing/Shared." Offers for one-time or yearly fees, or memberships with no details and no contact information should also alert consumers that they have entered an illegal site.

About the MPAA

The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

These members include: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Paramount Pictures; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal Studios, LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

According to the U.S. Constitution

Article I, Section 8: "The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

Pursuant to this grant of authority the Congress has adopted copyright statutes giving the owners of movies and other creative works certain exclusive rights, including the right to make copies and to perform the work in public.

One of MPAA's top priorities is to protect the copyrights held by its member companies. This frequently involves litigation against persons who have violated our members' copyrights or have assisted other to violate those rights.

Most recently, the MPAA and its members companies were involved in the Supreme Court case of MGM Studios vs. Grokster, an Internet peer-to-peer (P2P) software company. P2P software allows users to search the computer files of other users ("peers") connected to the network, and illegally download free online movies and music which are copyrighted.

MGM Studios filed suit against Grokster, arguing that the company should be held liable for encouraging its users to violate the copyright law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that Grokster was indeed liable for copyright infringement.

In one accompanying opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, “Deliberate unlawful copying is no less an unlawful taking of property than garden-variety theft.” Downloading copyrighted material without appropriate authorization has always been illegal.

The Supreme Court reinforced this fact in the strongest terms. Furthermore, companies that encourage their customers to steal copyrighted material can now also be held accountable.

You can read more about movie piracy at www.mpaa.org