Though filmmakers are often hurt by piracy-- their movies don't make as much as expected, they don't get a budget for their next film, etc. etc.-- they're rarely involved on the front lines of piracy prosecution. But when the movie in question is New Moon and the alleged pirate is a 22-year-old with less than three minutes of movie footage on her phone, I suppose it's a good time for any director to take a stand.

Talking to The Chicago Sun Times (via MTV), Weitz said the potential three-year prison sentences for Samantha Tumpach is "terribly unfair, and I would like to do what I can to address this."

Weitz continued, “There is, needless to say, a difference between trying to protect the copyright of a film and making an unfair example of someone who clearly seems not to have any intentions towards video piracy." But even though he had the power to create a CGI werewolf and give red-eyed contacts to the Volturi, Weitz's power over his own film is limited: '“The film is, after all, not my property.”

In the frustrating, ongoing fight against piracy, the majority of people prosecuted have been example-setters like Tumpach-- kids or college students illegally downloading a thing or two but with no real power to affect the industry as a whole. My guess is that Tumpach's case will eventually be thrown out and no actual jail time will be served, since the publicity seems to be the entire point. Good on Weitz, though, for sticking up for one of his faithful.