ENCINO : Motion Picture Assn. Seizes Pirated Tapes From Stores
Investigators seized 3,688 pirated videotapes from six video stores in the Los Angeles area in what a spokesman for the motion picture industry said Tuesday was one of the biggest raids ever in the region.
“This is one of our largest takes for a single day,” said Ed Pistey, director of the Motion Picture Assn. of America’s anti-piracy operation. “As long as people continue to sell pirate videos, we will continue to go after them.”
Pistey said the sale of illegally reproduced videocassettes costs film companies about $250 million annually in lost sales.
Off-duty police officers helped the group’s investigators serve warrants at stores in Encino and elsewhere in the area. Tapes also were seized from one home in Carson.
Among the pirated tapes taken from the retailers were “Aladdin,” “The Client,” “Jurassic Park” and “Maverick.”
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