Feds Bust Screener Pirate

Something gave indeed.

Just 10 days after bootlegged copies of Something's Gotta Give, Mystic River and The Last Samurai surfaced on the Internet, the FBI has arrested an Illinois man for illegally pirating Oscar screeners and distributing them online.

Federal agents on Thursday took into custody Russell W. Sprague, 51, on charges of criminal copyright infringement after tracing screener tapes from an Academy member, actor Carmine Caridi, to Sprague's residence in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Illinois.

On Friday, Sprague appeared in a federal courtroom in Chicago, where he became the first person ever charged in the U.S. with bootlegging screener tapes. He also faces separate charges for hijacking satellite TV signals.

During the brief hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Ashman set $25,000 bond for Sprague. Another hearing has been scheduled for Monday to determine whether Sprague will be flown to Los Angeles for prosecution in Hollywood's back yard.

According to prosecutors, Sprague is no stranger to the law, having a rap sheet that dates back to the 1970s and includes arrests for pot possession and other mostly minor offenses. There was no immediate comment from his court-appointed attorney, Matthew Madden.

Agents raided Sprague's place in the early morning hours and discovered a cache of hundreds of pirated flicks, including such recent releases as Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Matrix Revolutions, Calendar Girls, Thirteen, Big Fish, In America, Mona Lisa Smile and Shattered Glass.

Sprague allegedly used specialty computer software and duplication equipment to convert VHS screeners to DVDs. According to the criminal complaint, Sprague would then send the tapes back to Caridi and upload digital copies to the Web. Sprague even attempted to wipe off the digital watermarks mandated by studios in an attempt to stem piracy.

But apparently Sprague was only partially successful. Warner Bros., arguably the most ardent anti-piracy studio, tipped off the feds when bootlegs of The Last Samurai and Mystic River popped on the Internet in recent weeks. While it is unknown whether Warners linked those tapes to Caridi and Sprague, Sony scored a direct hit when it traced illegal online copies of the studio's Something's Gotta Give and Big Fish to Caridi.

Per the FBI, the 70-year-old Caridi--whose résumé includes films like The Godfather, Part II and Part III and Bugsy and a stint as Detective Vince Gotelli on the ABC police drama NYPD Blue--said he had been sending upwards of 60 screeners a year to Sprague for the past five years, thinking his pal "was a film buff and only wished to view the films."

Sprague apparently took care of all the shipping costs, sending Caridi FedEx envelopes and labels provided by an undisclosed FedEx employee.

While Caridi is not yet facing criminal charges, he won't likely escaped unscathed. Under new Academy guidelines adopted late last year, the veteran character actor faces possible expulsion for breaking a signed pledge to be accountable for all screeners sent to him.

The Academy also declined to comment on the matter. Neither Caridi nor his attorney, Richard Millard, could be reached for comment Friday.

But in comments to the Los Angeles Times, Millard said Caridi "was embarrassed to learn that his name was associated with the film that was being improperly distributed."

"He had no idea anyone else would be seeing them [besides Sprague]," Millard told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Sprague has become the newly minted public enemy number one in Tinseltown, with studios already looking to make an example of him.

"It is our intention to protect our copyright to the fullest extent of the law," Warner Bros. spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti told E! Online.

Brogliatti, who commended the feds "for their swift and vigorous action" in enforcing copyright laws, said that Warners executives will be hudling Friday to explore their own legal options against Sprague.

Strangely silent on Friday was the Motion Picture Association of America and its boss, Jack Valenti. The organization did not return calls seeking comment on the day's news.

But studio insiders are already touting the arrest as vindication for Valenti, who spearheaded the controversial ban on mass-mailing screeners, saying the tapes are targets for pirates and contibute to the $3.5 billion in lost ticket revenue.

A judge later lifted the ban after a lawsuit brought by independent film companies claimed it hurt their Oscar chances.)