8mm Forum: Can't believe Paul Foster read on

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Topic: Can't believe Paul Foster read on

Paul Barker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 395
From: Lancashire, England
Registered: Jun 2014

posted January 22, 2016 01:23 PM

well your right on that one Andrew.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted January 22, 2016 01:26 PM

Paul, Paul Foster's site says : "Paul himself has been a collector for over 25 years", so what Andrew shared with us confirms that statement. The fact that Paul Foster was involved with illegal dvd business (which nobody denies or minimizes) doesn't mean he is someone to run away from. It seems that several members have had good experiences buying from Paul, me included.

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Dominique

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Paul Barker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 395
From: Lancashire, England
Registered: Jun 2014

posted January 22, 2016 01:30 PM

i can say i have been a pianist for 25 years but i doesnt mean have. believe what you want to believe i suppose.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted January 22, 2016 01:33 PM

I believe what Andrew said :-)

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Dominique

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Paul Barker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 395
From: Lancashire, England
Registered: Jun 2014

posted January 22, 2016 01:34 PM

dont we all.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted January 22, 2016 01:38 PM

I hope so

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Dominique

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Paul Barker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 395
From: Lancashire, England
Registered: Jun 2014

posted January 22, 2016 01:42 PM

i love your innocence Dominique. what a grand chap you are. [Smile]

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 22, 2016 01:43 PM

From memory Paul and Derek were the only two who collected film at Derann. To the rest of them it was selling beans. Away to watch Fugitive from a Chain Gang with Paul Muni from my pre production code series. Was going to watch Witchfinder General but can't find my home recorded DVD disc anywhere [Mad]

Full copyright to Channel 4 and any old priests living or dead or any actors who played priests etc etc

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted January 22, 2016 01:45 PM

All i would say in the common sense front having read everything is this,
Yes he did do wrong, How many people did these DVD copies pass through in customs and excise as well as all the other checks before it got to Paul Fosters house for delivery? Has anyone in that profession looked at that, im sure no one in the system has picked that up nor any checks done to find out how so much of this junk got through into this country, this has been going on for years,
I do not in any way condone what he has done, i just think the sentence is so way overkill for the crime. They could have fined him thousands, took his licence away for trading etc, but 16 months is so ridiculous. You only have to watch Police camera films and see hardcore scum stealing cars , endangering men women and kids without a care, crash into shops houses etc only to be told a the end credits these guys got banned from driving for a year and 100 hours community service, woopy doo,
Compare those sort of crimes which endanger lives and upset many others with selling scabby copies of films.
Anyway, as Graham said, 16 months out in 2 in the UK [Big Grin]

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David Guest
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1704
From: Lancashire, UK
Registered: Oct 2011

posted January 22, 2016 01:47 PM

has anyone read this
Gill Heath, Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards leader, said: “This sentence sends out a strong message that dealing in counterfeit goods is a serious crime. This person knowingly sold illegal goods and ripped people off, which is completely unacceptable.”

Foster had previously headed his legitimate film-selling business for 14 years before entering the black market of piracy in 2014. Judge Mark Eades said in court Foster had shown serious levels of deceit as well as going into the operation with his ‘eyes wide open with greed’.

Councillor Heath added: “We would like to remind people counterfeiting is not a harmless crime – it has a detrimental impact on legitimate businesses and more often than not funds organised criminal gangs.

“We will continue to do all we can to protect Staffordshire people and businesses from the counterfeit goods trade.”

An ebay account linked to Foster’s company website displayed angry reactions from devastated consumers over the previous 12 months. Several users of the online bidding site were disappointed with the quality of the sale – with some even claiming they believed the film to be bogus.

“New dvd? Its a copy... Absoloute rip off... DO NOT BUY!” one furious user stated.

Foster was said to have recorded ebay sales totalling £60,000. A further £40,000 were uncovered when Staffordshire Trading Standards searched his Walhouse Drive property last January where 1,816 boxsets were uncovered

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 22, 2016 01:51 PM

Tom, Bob Monkhouse didn't go to jail because he was Bob Monkhouse and could afford a very good lawyer who proberably played up the my client does charity work is old, senile and in poor health etc cards. I think I remember hearing it was very close to jail time and a lot of money was paid to respective plaintives which is why old Bob suddenly started doing tv shows and lottery programmes to replenish his pension coffers.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted January 22, 2016 01:53 PM

Thank you, Paul [Big Grin]

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Dominique

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Paul Barker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 395
From: Lancashire, England
Registered: Jun 2014

posted January 22, 2016 01:56 PM

i rest my case David.i could not have put it better myself.

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted January 22, 2016 02:04 PM

quote:
16 months out in 2

Well, I guess crime does pay! It's no wonder it will continue to be in practice, crime that is.

Bill [Smile]

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David Guest
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1704
From: Lancashire, UK
Registered: Oct 2011

posted January 22, 2016 02:09 PM

what puzzles me is why paul did not get a barrister to defend him I am sure he would have just got a hefty fine and maybe community service .he is not stuck for money and could have easily afforded it .but like the judge said it was pure greed he wanted to earn money selling

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 22, 2016 02:14 PM

A lot of politicians and actors went on to success after a time in prison Churchill,Hitler, Mandela ,Gandhi Stalin Robert Downey Jr etc. There could be comedy script being developed about the insane world of film collecting and collectors.

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Steven J Kirk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 873
From: Southern England
Registered: Apr 2008

posted January 22, 2016 02:29 PM

Typically he will serve half the given sentence, so eight months. Presumably he will be banned from eBay.

Anyone have any other links to reports on the case other than that one already in the thread perhaps they can link in. Thanks.

Interesting to see on that local newspaper page the reports on several other big piracy rackets and how much is going on. I guess it is the same all around the country.

I can't say I have much sympathy for his 'get rich quick' scheme. I never supported pirate videos in the 80s. I have been told I'm mad for buying Blu-Rays... 'Why don't you just watch them on the net?' A good friend of mine came back from a holiday in the far East with a pile of DVDs and offered me some for free and I told him I didn't want them. Mind you they were laughably bad copies with miss-spelled artwork, etc, but he was offended...

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VistaVision
Motion Picture High-Fidelity

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Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted January 22, 2016 02:36 PM

Some people Steven,simply know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Those that value such art forms like film or music, simply want it presented well and don't mind paying for the privilege of owning these professionally manufactured items in whatever format floats their boat.

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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

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Steven J Kirk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 873
From: Southern England
Registered: Apr 2008

posted January 22, 2016 03:04 PM

Yes, perhaps it is partly I want the best quality. I don't mind paying £15 for an official Blu-Ray, it's a great product and I want to support it. Film companies are interesting to me. Different logos, different histories and the moguls who ran them and run them now. I want to support them not rip them off. Film companies do go bust too and piracy is a big issue for them and with modern technology is only getting more of a problem.

Paul Foster though was not only in the wrong he was also foolish because eBay is scrutinised by everyone, including law enforcement, and is known as a place where people try to offload dodgy goods. Trading Standards are very active on just this sort of thing. Unlike market stall trading there is a computer record of everything! So easy to bring a prosecution. All the evidence is there.

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VistaVision
Motion Picture High-Fidelity

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Jonathan Trevithick
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 569
From: Gold Coast Australia
Registered: May 2012

posted January 22, 2016 04:10 PM

I don't quite get the Bob Monhouse reference Mike. Was he a dvd pirate? All I remember is he was searched at a time when it was cosidered dodgy to collect 16/35mm film prints full stop.
I must just add that although I don't condone this act, I noticed pirate dvds all over the place on my last visit to the UK. This was mainly at boot sales but also charity shops. Is the police force going to jail Oxfam?

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 22, 2016 04:52 PM

Bob had a few run in's with the law. There was a case were he copied a Bond movie for Terry Wogan's son which got to the courts in 1979. I remember another time when he announced he had virtually every Laurel and Hardy movie on radio he got hauled up as they hadn't been even released on video. The sad thing is they seized most of his film collection 16mm and 35mm and destroyed it. In quite a number of occasions he had the only print still in existence of films dating back to the 1930s. He was a fanatical copier of everything on TV and radio to either audio tapes or video. He was videoing all comedies from 1966 well before the general public had access to video recorders so again when he died they found in some cases he had the only recordings of programmes. I think the family gave British Film Institute 40,000 videos when he died and they have since found another stache of 60,000 tapes hidden elsewhere. There was a documentary about him before he died and he had VCRs taping away in various rooms in his house all the channels he could access in th UK or via satellite from overseas.

He had the common collector problem he collected but never had time to watch anything apart from snippets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykNV4n32KGk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7774828.stm

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Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted January 22, 2016 04:57 PM

Good point Jonathan, and in Bob's case, he was a huge film fan and collector himself.

Obviously no individual should have the 35mm prints in their homes. These are owned by the film companies themselves lock stock and barrel.

Bob was known to have a huge collection of professional prints on 35mm and 16mm for use in his lavish home cinema.
Back then, this was a real issue even if it isn't so much now given the digital media world we now live in.

Sorry Jon, I was typing this while Mike gave a far more detailed explanation of affairs than I ever could. Thanks Mike [Wink]

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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted January 22, 2016 05:02 PM

It is interesting to think that some films or tv shows exist only because someone was breaking the law to save it.

Bill [Smile]

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Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted January 22, 2016 05:06 PM

Indeed Bill, us collecting fanatics have our uses at times! [Big Grin]

Through their sheer compassion for film, people like Bob Monkhouse should be congratulated rather than demonized as far as I am concerned.
He kept some of the only living prints alive only for some politically correct jobsworth to burn them all!!

What a ridiculous world we live in!

Why not just return them to the film companies?

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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 22, 2016 05:15 PM

Secret life of Bob Monkhouse. Interesting bit for us is from 57 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loIECxYkvV4

Makes us look less obsessive 😀😀😀😀

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