MaineMoviePirate, Founder, writer, filmmaker, retired Pirate.
THE INDICTMENT: United States v. Gordon
My name is Douglas Gordon. In 2019, the Department of Justice branded me a felon, convicting me of Criminal Copyright Infringement and handing down a 60-month prison sentence. I didn’t take a deal, and I didn’t cooperate. When the feds came knocking in 2015, my attorney told me to shut my mouth, and I did—but it was more than just legal strategy. I fundamentally rejected the United States Government’s draconian, bloated interpretation of copyright law. I was ready to stand trial because the Fair Use of Orphan Works was, and still is, Unsettled Law. I refused to be the pawn that helped the government expand an aggressive, restrictive legal regime that destroys the very soul of creative preservation. I chose to fight, consequences damn well be damned.
THE ORIGIN: Star Wars, Scraps, and Survival
To understand how a kid from rural Maine ends up in a federal crosshair, you have to go back to the summer of 1977. I was ten years old, navigating the world with a physical disability that made me an easy target for local bullies. My initial defense mechanism was a swift right hook to the jaw—effective for stopping the bleeding, but lousy for social standing. My real escape, my absolute salvation, was a movie called Star Wars. I watched it twenty times in theaters, completely transfixed by the ultimate underdog story of a farm boy taking down an oppressive, tyrannical Empire. But it wasn’t just the celluloid magic that rewired my brain; it was the behind-the-scenes books, the scripts, and the storyboards. That summer, a lightning-bolt realization hit my ten-year-old mind: People actually make these? This is a job? From that moment on, the die was cast. I was going to make movies, no matter what.
THE EMPIRE: Building the EDGE
I clawed my way through video production and film school, churning out raw, low-budget indie projects and hustling every corner of the industry from TV stations to video rental counters. By the early 2000s, battered by a divorce, creative burnout, and the paradigm shift of 9/11, I pivoted into ecommerce to fund my cinematic ambitions. The money came fast and heavy—more than a lower-middle-class Maine kid had ever dreamed of. Instead of directing, I built a physical retail empire called EDGE Video to wage war against the corporate monoliths like Blockbuster. We were a sanctuary for true movie freaks, stocking Eraserhead and El Topo right next to the summer blockbusters. By 2004, we pioneered a special-order service for the impossible-to-find, the forgotten, and the buried. Our motto was absolute: “If a movie has been made, we can find it!” And when a customer wanted a long-lost gem like the 1986 Babes in Toyland, we delivered. Sometimes, it arrived with the title scrawled on the disc in black marker. A magic marker. A felt pen! A fuckin’ black magic marker. Read More of MYSTORY
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