Do you remember that rant I went on back in April about the Wolverine online movie leak and later in a subsequent article, when I wrote about Roger Friedman, who worked for a subsidiary of News Corp called Fox 411 for over 10 years, who had reviewed the online work copy of Wolverine and bragged about the ease of how he could abscond with the illegal print. In fact, he bragged about how he could get a copy of any of the present box-office top-10 films from the Internet.
He was subsequently fired for his part in the process of seemingly supporting this act of copyright infringement.
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Me personally, I’m not sure I’d brag about snagging something my own bosses created, but that’s old-school me. Now, Friedman is now firing back with a $5 million lawsuit.
He claims his contract was violated when he was let go after his April 2nd review of the bootleg movie.
He claims he was told that after his review was pulled, that he didn’t need to worry about his $250k a year job. Alas, that was not to be.
Friedman was let go, and News Corp stated that it had “zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy.”
Friedman is saying that News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch invalidated their zero tolerance policy by allowing the inadvertent online release of the film.
According to Friedman’s lawyer, Martin Garbus, Murdoch had asked the studio to make him a copy of the unfinished movie and it seemed that during that process, someone made another copy for themselves.
So things aren’t as clear cut as they may seem and I am a wee bit surprised that Murdoch may actually have been part of the process that caused this whole shindig. If that’s accurate.
I guess as time moves on, we’ll discover all the nitty gritty of this situation. Wouldn’t that be a hoot if Murdoch really was part of this mess?
Sources: Variety, Deadline Hollywood Daily
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41 Comments
“So things aren’t as clear cut as they may seem and I am a wee bit surprised that Murdoch may actually have been part of the process that caused this whole shindig. If that’s accurate.
I guess as time moves on, we’ll discover all the nitty gritty of this situation. Wouldn’t that be a hoot if Murdoch really was part of this mess?”
That is misleading. You are implying that because THE BOSS asked for a screening of the movie and someone made an “extra” copy for him or herself, Murdoch is involved. That is ridiculous. Oh yes, let’s jump on the “get the CEO’s everything is their fault” bandwagon.
Wolverine sucked anyway…everyone shoudl just get together and sue the studio for wasting their time and money…o yea and Hugh Jackson promised he owuld deliver a great wolverine movie and that he was working on the story with them as well…well Hugh, you suck too
I wouldn’t trust Rupert Murdoch as far as I could kick him. He has a habit of letting others fall on their swords to cover his improprieties.
Another Aussie we are well rid of.
INK: Just surprised Murdoch was even remotely associated with the event. Nothing more.
@Bruce
Ahhh … gotcha.
The free world will be alot better off when Murdock dies!!!
The man is a elitist piece of shazbot.
I only wish there was a hell for this dirtbag !!!!!
INK: I owe you… heheh…
I agree with INK. From what I just read in the article, Murdock didn’t leak the movie. Some other unscrupulous person did. The boss should be able to request a copy of the movie. And even if he had, Friedman wasn’t forced to brag to the public and promote piracy. Which is why he was fired. Sounds like his firing was for damaging the PR of the company for what he was saying publicly.
And Wolverine was a very good movie!
I just wish that the judge in this case could just literally throw the gavel at friedman because at the end of the day he still downloaded the movie, bragged about it and showed several other people how to do so. He should be the one getting sued for piracy and piracy promotion in the first place… The only reason he’s doing this is probably cause he feels to have no privacy after moving back in with his mom. Probably cant even bring dates after 10 to the house or something… Who knows but the fact is that just because it was out there doesn’t mean it was an ok thing to do.
The timing couldn’t be better as Drudge-Report has a link up on how Murdoch has settled out of court today in regards to his reporters using “criminal” tactics.
Sure I agree with most on illegal downloading but from what I know about this, the reviewer in question was led to believe reviewing the bootleg wouldn’t result in dismissal. Could Ruppert be involved?, yes… Look into the politics of the franchise in reguards to FOX and you will see the motive…
I hope everyone knows that Ruppert Murdoch is also the inspiration for Mr Burns of The Simpsons…
Anyway,,,,,
“… Look into the politics of the franchise in reguards to FOX and you will see the motive…”
Or you could just say what you think so we don’t have to attempt to read your mind.
The gossip columnist is a vile bully and a cheesy writer. He lost his job because he had been despised at Fox News. (Yes, it’s unbelievable, but he was even lower than the rest of the Fox News people.)
Sorry Ink, but I had the data on Murdoch in reguards to his motives but it was a few weeks ago and didn’t feel like looking for it.
I will attempt to locate it and post what I know…
I will say this, the media is corrupt and getting worse all the time.
hey hey hey… careful how you toss around that term.. “media”!
Online media excluded for now Bruce. I’m currently going through my notes and will have more to say on this in a few hours. Don’t go anywhere INK, I’m going to provide you with some insight.
Thanks INK for the opportunity to vent my point on this issue, and Bruce for the topic,,, if you have a few minutes please read it,,,
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WHO STANDS TO GAIN in the long run as a result of the Wolverine work-print being leaked online? Let’s look at some of the FACTS…
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To this day, “X-MEN ORIGINS, WOLVERINE” without a release in Japan has grossed over $350 mil. worldwide. Today FOX International broke the $1 billion mark in overseas box office distribution, making news as the first distributor this year to hit that mark. Clearly the leaked work-print had zero negative impact, if anything it promoted the film in the worldwide headlines and added to its box office success…
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REMEMBER WHEN all this went down how FOX immediately reacted by threatening lawsuits to TorrentFreak etc, requesting the FBI get involved in tracking down the rumored post production leak. Then the angle quickly changed into a piracy dilemma. Within 48 hours the story then changed from studio leak to the termination of FOX Freelance Gossip reporter Roger Friedman. Instantly fans of X-Men bashed Friedman and defended anti-piracy laws. At the beginning of a slow news week the wave of media covering the scandal touched off a worldwide piracy issue, and also kept “X-Men Origins, Wolverine” in the worldwide headlines up until the films release. Was this a clever calculated exploitation of a loyal fanbase ??? In past instances of leaked cinematic material (Hulk, Star Wars-3) the suspects were caught fairly quickly. To this day there is no firm suspect in custody concerning the leaked work-print copy of “X-Men Origins, Wolverine…”
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In a STATEMENT from Roger Friedman’s lawyer, “This is a slam dunk wrongful temination suit.” Trust me there’s strong evidence in favor of his case. Personally (IMO) after reading up on his claims, I’m convinced that Friedman was set up as a patsy. I can provide more reasons on this if needed…
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GETTING BACK to my main point, who is to gain from this? Let’s take a brief look at Rupert Murdoch’s history. He’s the one behind the ousting of Roger Friedman in reguards to his (implicit endorsement of piracy) review of “X-Men Origins, Wolverine”.
(That was authorised and approved by 4 of Friedman’s editors btw…) Rupert Murdoch owns and controls 20th Century Fox films, News Corp, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, The Sun UK, News of the World, Sydney Daily Telegraph, The San Antonio Express and more. Most of his family background is grounded in the worldwide news media from tv to print. If your keeping up with (the real news) you know that the World Wide Web and Online news services, Drudge Report, etc are killing News Corps overall domination of tv news and print information. Newspapers are dying breed…
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A few days after the big “Wolverine” leak in a STATEMENT FROM from Rep. Howard Berman, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who oversaw a congressional hearing on piracy after the incident. “Unfortunately, the recent leak of the Fox film “Wolverine” provided a stark backdrop to the impact that digital piracy has on large investments that producers make in creating state-of-the-art films.”
Dem. Rick Boucher is also pushing strong measures against web sites and challenging what we can say/print online. He wants to basically cover all content in a restrictive blanket of intellectual property…
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At this very moment a Bill is being written up that will propose restricting websites and online media to the point of SHUTTING THEM DOWN, all in the name of securing intellectual property. The Feds in cooperation with Google, various other new tech outlets and big media are going to introduce a new version of the internet in the years to come. Web 2.0 or whatever they will call it. Its genesis will be based on the principal of protecting intellectual property. Meanwhile as technology opens up new possibilities, forces in the controlled media will deliberately continue to conflict intellectual property laws in an attempt to control media information. (The internet as we know it.)
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Murdoch’s FOX Empire controls a vast range of areas in this venture as does Disney. As I noted today was the PERFECT TIMING for this post as News Corp/Murdoch have settled out of court on charges of hiring private investigators to hack into the mobile phone records of UK politicans, sports stars and celebrities. Note: If Murdoch was innocent why did he settle out of court. Its obvious he wants to pay off these people so they won’t talk/leak info in open court.
I suspect the same will happen in the case of Roger Friedland, however its obvious to me that this was all a ploy at the highest levels to generate momentum in the longterm control of the internet… That’s WHAT’S TO GAIN for Murdoch and his News Corps affiliates…
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Funny yesterday at a tech summet Murdoch said that he didn’t think Twitter was a smart purchase… That would be accurate if his plans workout…
Thanks for reading my rant.
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790
Ah, we all know if it isn’t a conspiracy it isn’t fun and exciting, so let there be conspiracy. Me typing this, there is actually a conspiracy behind this… *looks around suspiciously*
du du duuuuhhhh…. (dramatic music sound effect)
It’s not like it’s an OBVIOUS move for Friedman to sue a big company with billions of dollars after he is fired or anything, no, didn’t see that coming at all… [/sarcasm] Glad we are jumping to conclusions based on the CLAIMS of one party now…
Ken J, if this was the Stephen Hawking Chatroom you would be the village idiot,,, your perception of life is constant amusement for me…
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Of course I await your lameaas comeback,,, ah life on Screen Rant,,,
It’s always so obvious when your feelings are hurt, it’s cute and sad at the same time. I’m so sowwy 790, I take it all back big guy.
My feelings arnt hurt Ken J are you still in high school?, I find your conversation skills similar to the opening scenes of 2001 a Space Odyssey. Brutal and club like…
When you feel you can debate me on relevant facts I’ll be here… Until then you come off as a blogger in need of instant argumentative attention… Let’s face it Ken J, I’m not the first one to bring this up. Get a grip dude, you have some serious socially interactive problems.
Lol,,,
Your closed mind is holding you back, to say the least,,,
@790:
The kerfuffle Rupert caused in Australia when he renounced his citizenship just so he could build a bigger empire, was astounding.
He is a dirt bag.
@790
Ooh, ad hominem and red herring all in one, I’m sort of impressed! Except I knew someone here who managed to squeeze those two AND strawman all into one sentence, damn that was some good stuff… Unfortunately those tricks only fool a very limited number of people, but as long as the image of the argument is more important than the content then I guess it’ll serve your purpose quite well, so bravo.
FYI, if you really were interested in a discussion of fact, try contesting what I’ve actually said. I criticized how you are accepting a CLAIM by this guy as “evidence” to use in your argument. When a CLAIM is exactly that, a claim. And also, you’re claiming that the mere fact that he’s sueing says something, when it’s a pretty common for someone who was terminated in a public fashion such as this from a major corporation that their first move is to sue them for wrongful termination since most corporations would rather settle out of court than to go to court even if their case is legitimate since it’s simply cheaper and less time-consuming that way, not to mention all of the negative publicity that will result. So I was stating that it’s pretty erroneous to use those factors to further your argument because they really don’t prove anything…
But it’s ok, if all you can do is throw personal attacks, that works out quite well for me, so no worries dude.
@gottarhyme
He sure sounds like one… but a rich dirt bag, lol.
His mother, Dame Elizabeth Murdoch, is still living here in Australia in the family mansion. She is nearly 100 years old, and she is marvellous. His Father, Sir Keith Murdoch founded the newspaper empire, and was a highly respected member of the Media Aristocracy here.
How a man with no scruples came from such well respected and wonderful parents, God only knows.
@Ken J,,,,
Roger Fieldman is already working for the “Hollywood Reaporter.” Its not like he’s down and out,,, He’s sueing for payment on his remaining contract with FOX, $200.000+ and also $5 Million for wrongfull termination and slander. Ah if you think he’s bluffing your wrong, read the full report. He’s going to win.
FOX/Murdoch have always pursued legal actions in the past to the fullest extent. Why havnt they denied these claims ??? Where’s the leak ???
We will soon see who wins this case Ken J. I look forward to the outcome,,,,,,,,,
Gottarhyme, nothing personal but, Rupperts father was a big D-bag. Do the research….
@790
And where does it say that someone has to be “down and out” to want to sue? It’s called $$$, not about any real damages done, he probably has plenty of money, just wants more. Don’t act surprised, everyone is out for greed. Murdoch, Friedman, they are all lying about what happened. I wouldn’t pick either side based on their “claim.” But that’s just me…
@gottarhyme
If you know them personally, try to get closer, maybe you may get a piece of the pie, lol.
I wish.
I just read about them in a magazine. Sir Keith died years ago. He was a reporter in WW1!
@790:
Maybe he was, but his wife is lovely. Apparently Sir Keith had a hand in alerting the Australian command to the disastrous landing of the ANZACS at Gallipoli Cove in WW1.
Maybe I have a soft spot for him, as My Great Grandfather was evacuated from Gallipoli (Our apparent’birth’ of our nation). A whole generation of Australians were lost, and thank God my Grandad, who was in The 7th Lighthorse regiment, survived, or I would not be here.
I have Sir Keith to thank (in part) for that.
Rupert, however, is universally despised. And rightly so.
Ken J, you seem to want to focus on the suit or claim as you call it. That’s a minor point in my overall comment. I’m explaining a bigger picture. One that bores you because you find it conspiracy based…