See how Filmai.in works from the inside: communication is like a secret club, strict requirements apply

This is not Robin Hood

Copyright advocates share this experience with Delfi. Users of the Filmai.in website often don’t even realize they are viewing illegal content; after all, they buy points to watch movies and series.

We remind you that in October 2019, the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (LRTK) forced Internet providers to block this website. But in vain, the site is still available to users. However, after an appeal from the Bank of Lithuania’s Supervisory Authority, the Lithuanian payment company Paysera announced that it would suspend the provision of services to a website that distributes illegal movies. However, it took Paysera over a month to fulfill his promise.

The fight against pirates seems to be the work of Sisyphus. The site continues to exist successfully, and the person who introduced himself to the head of the “15min” portal “Filmai.in” argued that it is a non-profit community that pays taxes to the state. However, it is estimated that the damage to the film and television industry as a whole could amount to 50 million euros a year.

Copyright advocates have decided to take important steps to get a job as a translator for Filmai.in. In doing so, they entered the pirate industry, which operates under the same secret and “bison and prize” principle.

“It is not the Robin Hoods on the Internet who steal copyrighted content and share it for free. They benefit not only from the authors, but also from the people who pay, often believing that everything is legal. We have begun to delve into the activities of Filmai.in, especially after what I think is the scandalous statement by their manager that they also pay taxes on stolen amounts.The amount has no children and only proves the extent of piracy in our country.

On the Internet, we saw an ad looking for translators, made contacts, created a character, and wrote. We soon received a response, the first task we successfully completed was accepted in “work,” says Bosanova’s partner Eglė Bagdonaitė.

Incentive and business system.

Copyright representatives Delphi Provided all Filmai.in employment history: from start of employment to receipt of remuneration.

Three factors are the most surprising. The first is the secret. There are no employment contracts, translators contact the “administration” or on the Telegram app with daewoo. The possibilities are at least discovering a person’s gender, no. And translators are free to create whatever name they want. E. Bagdonaitė warns that if the company’s activity is legal, there is no need to hide.

The second factor is mass. E. Bagdonaitė says that there are around 4,000 series translated on the website, and that they are translated and subtitled by more than 50 translators. “They should not dedicate more than 3 days to a series. If you fail, your translation is passed to another. No one waits there. There is a strict system that must guarantee a constant and uninterrupted translation process, ”says E. Bagdonaitė behind the scenes.

The third factor is remuneration. “Translating and subtitling a series in the Filmai.in application costs an average of 6 euros. So, if you want to reach the minimum amount of € 100 to be paid, you must translate an average of 16 series. It is a black job that the whole team By the way, we received a bonus of 6 euros for the good quality of the translations. The incentive and business system works well. To coordinate so many people, some have to be punished, others have to be pampered, but most It is important to keep a name short enough, “says the interlocutor.

Copyright advocates involved in this adventure note that the tone on the Filmai.in employee forum is extremely strict, which does not allow for details. The language of the administration is orderly, so this allows us to assume that the people who work in the Filmai.in administration are Lithuanian. And the working conditions are strict: if you don’t translate series or movies for 100 euros a month, you won’t receive a salary. The entire team of copyright advocates worked on the translations. They managed to earn 111.17 euros, the money was transferred to a PayPal account.

Pay taxes

As previously mentioned, a representative of Filmai.in assured that his activities were legal. It’s said to be just a non-commercial activity, a community of movie lovers, and the company pays taxes.

The Delphi State Tax Inspectorate confirmed that the company had indeed paid the taxes. According to Rūta Asadauskaitė, Head of Communication at the State Tax Inspectorate, Filmai.in paid Lithuania some LTL 287,000. EUR VAT. “In addition, for the period 2015-2017. During the period of activity (before registering with MOSS), the taxpayer declared almost 56 thousand more. VAT to pay in euros,” says R. Asadauskaitė.

She emphasizes that the ITS evaluates the activities of the taxpayers to make sure that they take into account all the income received and pay taxes.

“However, paying taxes does not in itself mean that the company’s activities do not violate legal acts implemented by other institutions and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania,” says R. Asadauskaitė.

The damage is huge

According to Darius Vaitiekūnas, head of the Audiovisual Works Copyright Association (AVAKA), it is difficult to comment on the commercial benefits of Filmai.in administrators of the site’s activities, as no specific figures are provided. “But I can guess that they don’t actually participate in charitable activities, and knowing how many visitors visit the site daily and what the advertising rates are, the financial flows are likely to be significant,” he says.

And that “filmai.in” is just a community of movie lovers: D. Vaitiekūnas disagrees. “Is it a community? May be. But that doesn’t change anything at all. The crucial question that the person presenting himself as manager does not answer is: is he acting legally? Did the rights holders of the works grant you a license to publicly show movies or series online? Do you have permission to subtitle or translate these works? These are copyrighted objects and their unauthorized use is illegal. This was confirmed by the Radio and Television Commission and the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court. And if it is an illegal activity, it makes absolutely no difference if there is a commercial benefit or not, if it is about a community or individuals, “the head of AVAKA is convinced.

When asked if it is known what damage this website has done to developers, D. Vaitiekūnas replies that, according to data from AVAKA partners, the damage to the entire film and television industry can reach up to 50 million euros per year.

“By the film and television industry, I mean not only creators, producers, but also distributors, exhibitors, and other market participants. And based on publicly available figures on the amount of VAT paid by the site , it is very easy to calculate the income from which that VAT was paid; they should amount to approximately 800,000 EUR. (taking into account the fact that part of the income is collected through coupons, cryptocurrencies, etc.) “, he says D. Vaitiekūnas. He is convinced that such activities destroy legally operating businesses and harm the state itself.

Ignorance does not exempt from responsibility

According to Agnesta Filatovė, executive director of Kino pavasaris, the “Kino pavasaris” pandemic forced them to move to home theater platforms. “We negotiate with film rights holders to show movies in cyberspace. It is no secret that, knowing the level of piracy in Lithuania, many were reluctant to agree to take this step.

Unfortunately, when we enter another cinema space, we are again faced with the Lithuanian reality that many are not yet accustomed to paying for quality content. In the store, it’s customary for us to pay for products, but in the vastness of the Internet, we still want to receive content for free or at a very low price, “says A. Filatovė.

According to her, making a movie costs a lot of money, it is often created by a very large team and all those people suffer great losses if their work is literally stolen.

During Cinema Spring, we actively inspected 30 illegal movie screening platforms, where festival films regularly appeared. Until the highest-rated Body of Christ was removed, it was viewed illegally 3,000 times, so we lost tens of thousands of euros for each movie. Those amounts would have continued to grow, but the professional help of the partners helped reduce the loss, “says the interlocutor about the damage to the pirates.

It does not hide the importance not only of fighting against piracy, but also of educating everyone so that we know what is legal and what is not, because even the constitution establishes that “ignorance does not exempt from responsibility.”

However, not only the actors in the film industry are the disadvantaged, but also those who agree to work for Filmai.in without an employment contract. As mentioned earlier, copyright advocates had to use all the equipment to do the job of a single translator, and the reward was ridiculous. “I work with various film festivals, film distributors and film production companies, so I am very aware that the current remuneration for a translator is 10 euros for 1,500 stamps with spaces. The remuneration for the production of subtitles is calculated separately. It is time to increase the remuneration of the translators, because the rates are increasing ”, says Julija Matulytė, Translation Coordinator of Kino pavasario.

Delphi tried the email. Contact Filmai.in representatives by email to submit your position. However, since June 22, we have received no response. After receiving your responses, we will complement the post.