First Camcordering Arrest

As part of its Operation Copycat (a sub-action of Operation Site Down), the DOJ announced the arrest of Curtis Salisbury for two counts of camcordering movies in theaters (“The Perfect Man” on June 21, 2005, and “Bewitched” on June 28, 2005) and three counts of other warez trading-related activity.

This represents the first arrest for camcordering under the ART Act. However, it should be noted that camcordering was not essential to the arrest; his other activities (including the uploading of the camcordered movies) were already covered by existing criminal copyright infringement law prior to the ART Act.

Furthermore, the press release says that Salisbury “allegedly discussed receiving payment for the films that he would provide, indicating that he would like to be paid by money order at a post office box when the film is ready for release.” If so, then, he’s not a typical warez trader, who would never think of seeking money for providing copyrighted works to the warez scene. And if Salisbury is a commercial infringer, then he was covered by criminal copyright infringement even before the 1997 NET Act.

In any case, the DOJ still chose to use this case to show that it’s tough on camcordering. That should keep Congress happy for a little while.

UPDATE: Salisbury has pleaded guilty.