When the theaters get hot, the streets get even hotter.
”Mo` Money,” ”Boomerang,” ”Lethal Weapon 3,” and ”Batman Returns” are hits at the box office-but they`re even bigger hits on the street.
Vendors are out and they have bootleg video copies of first-run movies almost immediately after they have been released-sometimes even before.
For $10, you could have had ”Mo` Money,” the comedy starring Damon Wayans, the day after it was released. Or you could have bought ”Boomerang,” the romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy, days before it hit movie houses in June.
These pirated tapes, whose prices are a fraction of the up to $100 price tag for first-run releases at video stores, cost the movie industry millions a year, officials say.
”The movie industry across the nation loses about $100 million a year, while the video retailers lose $200 to $300 million a year,” said Mary Callahan, of the Motion Picture Association of America, a New York group that is lobbying for tougher anti-piracy laws. ”We want to help protect the legitimate retailers-not kick them out because of illegal pirates.”
Selling bootleg videos violates federal copyright laws and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Although these tapes may seem a bargain, you may get what you pay for. Some may have clear pictures, while others have background noise.
”Many of these vendors take camcorders into the theaters and videotape the movies,” Callahan said. They cut out newspaper advertisements, copy them and put them into cassette cases, she added.
On one recent afternoon along 52nd Street, people had plenty of selections to choose from: ”Unlawful Entry,” ”Sister Act,” ”White Men Can`t Jump,” ”Juice” and ”Hook.”
The vendors seem to have adopted modern retailing techniques.
”Hey, I`m here from 9 to 5 every day but Sunday,” said one vendor at 52nd and Ludlow Streets.
Besides ”regular” hours, the vendors have TV sets and videocassette recorders on hand for sampling products. They`ve even got return policies.
”If you don`t like how it looks, you bring it back and I`ll exchange it,” said vendor a block south on 52nd, also declining to give his name. ”If the exchange is messed up, I`ll give you a refund.”
He soon had the chance to display his policy.
A woman returned a tape she said she had bought from him. First, the vendor checked it for his ”mark.” He then exchanged it.
”On all of my tapes, I write `PSFS,` my own little code, and the date,” the vendor said. ”That way, I make sure that no one returns a tape to me that they bought somewhere else.”
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In a copy of ”Boomerang,” which has grossed more than $47.4 million since being released, kids are crying in the background, people are laughing, and there`s a lot of static.
But in a copy of ”Batman Returns,” the dialogue is clear and there`s no background noise, though the images are somewhat blurred.
Callahan, the assistant to the director of communications for the MPAA, said 97,695 pirated video tapes were removed nationally during the first six months of the year, representing $6.4 million at the retail level. In addition, 133 people were arrested and 64 were convicted and sentenced, she said. And a total of $185,277 in fines was assessed, while criminal charges were filed against 80 people, she added.
As of June, the MPAA was investigating 2,700 complaints of alleged piracy nationwide.
Bootleggers sap revenue from video retailers, too, several say.
”I don`t think that piracy is affecting us too much,” said Ron Castell, a senior vice president at Blockbuster Entertainment, the nation`s largest video retailer. ”True, it is a problem because it takes away from a sale-whether it`s one or 1,000.”