Prosecutor Calls Suspect a Video Pirate : Encino Man Accused of Selling Film Copies in Asia, Middle East

Prosecutors accused an Encino man Wednesday of violating federal copyright laws by duplicating first-run feature films on videocassettes that were then sold in the Middle East and Asia.

A three-count federal indictment said Cesar Cruz Santos, 42, illegally copied 29 movies, including “Hope and Glory,” “Wall Street,” “Dracula’s Widow” and “Death Wish IV.” Assistant U.S. Atty. Maurice Leiter said Santos was a video pirate who shipped the copies to Bahrain, Cyprus, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, where the videocassettes were duplicated and sold commercially.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, called the indictment a “significant step” toward controlling video piracy worldwide.

“Film and video piracy cost our industry $1 billion annually on a worldwide basis,” Valenti said. “In the U.S. alone, the motion picture studios lose over $100 million a year to video piracy.”

Leiter said Santos obtained some of the films before they were available for wholesale distribution as videos from Marian Barbato, an employee of a wholesale video distribution company in Los Angeles.

Leiter would not say whether Barbato, formerly of Los Angeles, would be indicted. The company, Baker & Taylor, was not involved in the enterprise, he said.

Santos also copied films by sneaking videocassette recorders into Brentwood and Woodland Hills hotels that screen first-run movies in their rooms, Leiter said.

The illegal copies were shipped overseas between January and August of last year, he said. It was not clear how much money was involved in the operation.

Santos is to be arraigned in federal court June 5. He faces one count of conspiracy and two counts of copyright infringement.

If convicted, Santos could be sentenced to a maximum nine years in prison and fined $750,000, Leiter said.

The indictment also names two foreign video companies, Jam Joon Video of Saudi Arabia and SP Neoh of Malaysia. It also names a resident of Bahrain and a resident of Cyprus.