| Employee found guilty of Sione s Wedding film piracy 6/12/2007by Kevin Nelson |
| Frederick Junior Higgins, 39, was found guilty on charges of theft and distributing a copyrighted film at a defended hearing at Auckland District Court today. Higgins admitted he made a DVD copy of Sione's Wedding at Digital Post in Epsom, where he had worked for 11 years, but said it was for his own use and he destroyed the DVD at work within two days. The dreadlocked Higgins, whose good character was referred to by several former workmates, testified today that he made a copy of the film while working on the weekend of October 1 and 2, 2005. He said he took the copy home to watch by himself, and then took it back to work shortly afterwards where he destroyed it with a stanley knife. But Judge Josephine Bouchier concluded the pirated DVDs of the film being distributed in New Zealand and on the internet could only have come from Higgins. Higgins, who was close to tears when Judge Bouchier delivered her decision, will be sentenced on July 18. Judge Bouchier said Higgins was one of only five or six people who had the technical knowhow to make the DVD copy of the film's ungraded submaster from the new equipment at Digital Post. It was this version of the film, minus credits, colour grading and much of the sound work, which was found in eight households and available for download on the internet as much as a month before the film hit New Zealand cinemas on March 31 last year. Three other staff members testified they did not make copies of the film and Judge Bouchier did not agree with Higgins' counsel Louise Freyer that other staff or outsiders could have made the pirated copy which was found in the community. She agreed there was no direct evidence showing that Higgins distributed the pirated versions of Sione's Wedding, "but the circumstantial facts lead to the inevitable inference that he's the person who distributed them". John Barnett, chief executive of the $3.8 million film's producer South Pacific Pictures, was pleased with the decision. "In one sense he might consider that it's the law of unintended consequences. Whether he intended to take it home to watch it on his own or not, this is what's happened," he said after the decision. "I think it's a message that you don't deal in stolen goods, you don't deal in illicit works and you don't deal in pirated material." Mr Barnett estimated the piracy cost between $700,000 to $1 million at the New Zealand box office, of which $300,000 would have gone back to the company to hand to investors, crew and the company itself. He said the piracy was particularly costly in Manukau, where box office returns were expected to be highest because of the film's Polynesian content, but in fact ranked 10th nationwide. "People weren't going to see it in Manukau because they had already seen it (on pirated DVD)," Mr Barnett said. The film eventually grossed about $4 million, though a significant part of that went to the film's distributors and cinema exhibitors. Mr Barnett also estimated the piracy cost the company about $200,000 from lost DVD sales. He said pirated versions of the film had made their way to the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Ordinary New Zealanders were among those to effectively lose out as major investors in the film included the Government-funded agencies NZ Film Commission and New Zealand On Air. "The taxpayer loses out through the Film Commission and NZ On Air but also through the loss of tax and GST on the legitimate operations," Mr Barnett said. - NZPA |
| Fake wedding cakes for thrifty couples 6/12/2007by Kevin Nelson |
| THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GRANDVILLE, Mich. -- For the budget-minded bride and groom, a new business is offering a less costly alternative to buying an expensive wedding cake: renting a fake one. The idea is to have an elegant, multitiered pretend cake for show while serving guests slices from a real, tasty and inexpensive sheet cake. The inside of a faux wedding cake crafted by Fun Cakes in Grandville contains mostly plastic foam, with a secret spot reserved for a slice of real cake to be shared by the bride and groom. Everything is covered by gum paste and fondant, a frosting-like confection made from sugar and water often used in cakes and pastries. After a bride and groom take the traditional first slice of their real wedding cake, it's often wheeled away from guests, out of their sight, to be cut up and served on plates. Do the same thing using a fake cake and a sheet cake, and guests will be none the wiser. "The only difference is the inside. nobody can tell," said Kimberly Aya, whose 3-month-old company also bakes real cakes. The online version of her business is called CakeRental.com, Fake cakes aren't new but renting them is fairly novel. Susan Lobsinger, who opened Rent the Cake of Your Dreams in East Aurora, N.Y., last year, said she knows of only one other cake-rental business - and it's in Canada. Mary Brown, manager of Cakes Plus in Grand Rapids, said her bakery has rented out its window displays a few times when brides were desperate and needed something at the last minute. "It was happenstance. It's not something that we do," she recently told The Grand Rapids Press. "But I don't see why not. It probably would be good business." Brown said a typical three-tier cake serving around 100 guests costs an average of $200 to $250. Aya charges $100 to rent an in-stock fake cake and $150 for a custom design. Bride-to-be Nicole Kreuger, 26, of Grand Rapids, said she will spend about half as much on a fake wedding cake from Fun Cakes paired up with a sheet cake as she would have spent on a real cake elsewhere. "That's saving us a ton of money," she said. --- On the Net: http://www.cakerental.com --- |
| Abdullah, Jeanne wedding dominates Indonesian media 6/11/2007by Kevin Nelson |
| JAKARTA: The marriage between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah made it into the pages of major Indonesian newspapers yesterday. Seputar Indonesia carried the story with an accompanying colour picture of the couple reciting the doa (prayers) at the grave of Abdullah’s wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, who died of breast cancer in 2005, on its front page. The article, headlined "Malay-sians Warmly Welcome Badawi’s Marriage", among others, mentioned the glow of happiness on the face of the 67-year-old prime minister after he married Jeanne, 53, on Saturday. The marriage was solemnised by Putrajaya Mosque imam Abd Manaf Mat at the prime minister’s official residence Seri Perdana. Republika carried a picture of the newlyweds walking towards Endon’s grave on its front page, with a Bernama-sourced story appearing on page three. Media Indonesia also gave prominence to the marriage, opting for a picture of Abdullah and Jeanne after visiting Endon’s grave. Other media outfits, such as detik.com, carried the wedding story and other related articles, including the announcement of the marriage by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. — Bernama |
| Siones Wedding piracy cost $500 000 court told 6/11/2007by Kevin Nelson |
| The producer of hit film Sione's Wedding estimates piracy cost investors at least $500,000. South Pacific Pictures chief executive John Barnett was giving evidence at an Auckland District Court hearing today against Frederick Junior Higgins. Higgins faces two charges of theft and one of breaching copyright following the distribution of pirated copies of Sione's Wedding before it was released in cinemas last year. Mr Barnett said the pirated copies cost an estimated $300,000 in box office returns to the company and another $200,000 in DVD sales. He said the piracy was particularly costly in south Auckland where box office returns were expected to be highest because of the film's Polynesian content, but in fact ranked 10th nationwide. The defended hearing is expected to last two days. |