Pirate Movie Raid at Video Store Nets 378 Tapes

Federal marshals seized 378 allegedly pirated movies from a video store here, including recent releases such as “A River Runs Through It” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

Video-$-Day on Calle de Industrias was raided by authorities on Thursday after a lengthy investigation initiated by representatives of the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

“We had several complaints from consumers about the quality of the tapes there, so we launched an investigation,” said David H. Dolson, the association’s staff supervisor of piracy investigations.

Pirated tapes often are inferior in quality with poor colors, blurred images and without stereo sound, Dolson said.

He said about 10% of the nation’s video stores rent or sell illegal tapes, a practice that costs the motion picture industry an estimated $150 million in profits each year.

Stores will buy the pirated versions at a much cheaper price, he said, enabling them to rent or sell them to the public at a price lower than their competitors.

The managers of Video-$-Day declined to comment on the seizure.