New viral ad for the campaign “Movie thieves are Criminals” can be downloaded from the Internet

(Berlin, November 7th 2005) At the beginning of this year, the campaign “Movie thieves are Criminals” started by the German film industry went into its second round. Since its start in November 2003, it has continually drawn attention to itself with well-known TV and cinema spots, drastic-humorous campaign posters and actions such as “Prison on Tour”. Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH, the organiser of the campaign, is now building on this success with a more differentiated approach to different target groups: Since November 7th, a viral commercial has been explaining what
the consequences of pirating are at the scene of the crime; the Internet.

Since the end of October, a trailer called “They’ll track you down”, which shows wild chase scenes, is being shown in cinemas before the main feature and on some TV networks. On the website of the same name, www.siekriegendich-derfilm.de, the entire film is available starting today, and visitors to the site can download it at no cost and send it to friends and acquaintances by e-mail. Behind this, there is a new commercial from the campaign “Movie thieves are Criminals”, which was developed by the Hamburg advertising
and creative agency “Zum goldenen Hirschen”. As with the current cinema and TV spots “Happy Birthday” and “Fairy Tale”, the campaign here principally takes an entertaining and humorous approach. The motif: in a cattle pasture, two movie thieves in cow costumes attempt to find the perfect camouflage to hide from police and investigating authorities – without success.

“The new spot is characterised by satiric and ironic overtones, which is particular to the genre of viral commercials. The characters and the plot development are highly exaggerated – the viewer recognises immediately that the situation being depicted is fictional“, explains Klaus Sielker, managing director at Zum goldenen Hirschen. The spot has been
developed especially for the Internet, and because of this special approach is only to be seen there.”

With the internet spot, the campaign “Movie thieves are Criminals” is clearly opening up new avenues for distribution. Up until now, the public was being approached primarily via TV and cinema; the campaign is now bringing the campaign directly to the scene of the crime, the Internet. 

“The internet is and remains the principal distribution market for illegal copies of films. In this case, suppliers and consumers are both counting on the alleged anonymity of the World Wide Web. With this spot, we would like to demonstrate in a humorous way that in the long run you can’t hide out in the Internet, either,” explained Dr. Elke Esser, director of the Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH.

In this connection, the campaign website – www.hartabergerecht.de – is also being revised and now offers visitors the possibility of integrating their own photos or that of a friend in the now well-known wanted poster.

That hard times have genuinely arrived for movie thieves is demonstrated as well by the investigations in connection with the piracy portal ftp-welt.com, which has now been exposed. With the help of investigators from the German Federation against Copyright Theft (Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzungen e.V., GVU), that, which was by far the most important and best-known commercial download service in the German-speaking world was closed down in the autumn of 2004. Not only have those responsible been brought to justice, but the public prosecutors in Mühlhausen have now begun criminal proceedings against the clients of “ftp-welt” as well.

GVU quarterly figures confirm positive results in the realm of criminal proceedings –“ftp-welt” has not remained an exception. The GVU was already able to report in mid-year that in the fight against movie thieves, the sentences handed down have become increasingly severe. The positive tendency in the area of criminal proceedings has continued in GVU figures for the current quarter: Thanks to careful investigations by the GVU, a total of 1,350 searches in the homes and offices of suspected persons were
carried out in the period form January to September 2005, and besides this, a total of 245,439 pirated film copies were confiscated. Furthermore, the GVU has participated in initiating 1,978 criminal cases against movie thieves since January 2005. Another positive report: From the 1st to the 3rd quarter of 2005, 1,554 criminal proceedings concerning infringement of copyright were successfully concluded.

On October 5th, the magistrates’ court of Papenburg sentenced the 21-year-old Peter Reichert (name has been changed), a repeated offender, to a fine of 150 daily rates for the sale of 83 illegal copies on the Internet auction house eBay. Furthermore, he is obliged to bear the cost of the proceedings. The GVU made a decisive test purchase, which resulted in house searches. As a result, 132 burned data storage media were discovered as well as a PC system, incriminating account files, and a mailing list of subscribers. The GVU evaluated the data storage media for property rights and as a result pressed criminal charges.

Prison cell with celebrity accompaniment up for auction on eBay
The cooperation between the campaign “Movie thieves are Criminals” and eBay is being continued: Beginning today, November 7th 2005, the original prison cell used in the promotional campaign “Prison on Tour“ will be auctioned off as part of a charity auction involving a visit to private homes. The two actors Sylwia von Wildburg and Egon Hofmann from the RTL series “Behind Bars – the Women’s Prison” also “belong” to the winnings. They will join the house visit as celebrity prison guards, distribute free tickets to
the cinema to all volunteer “prisoners” and are sure to report on their life “behind bars”.

About Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH
Responsible for the campaign "Movie thieves are Criminals - an Initiative for the Protection of Originals" is Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH, a subsidiary of the Main Association of German Cinemas (HDF Kino e.V.) and the Association of Film Distributors (Verband der Filmverleiher e.V., VdF). Zukunft Kino Marketing GmbH was founded to develop and implement industry sector campaigns to increase attendance in German cinemas. The current campaign against copyright theft is also supported and subsidised by the Federal Association of Audio-Visual Media (Bundesverband Audiovisuelle Medien e.V., BVV) and the Association of Video and Media Retailers in Germany (Interessenverband des Video- and Medienfachhandels in Deutschland e.V., IVD). In addition, a number of individual companies active in the areas of video/DVD, film distribution and cinema are participating in the project. The campaign is supported by funds from the German Federal Film Board (Filmförderungsanstalt, FFA).