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Where Are the Pirated Movie Screeners This Year?Ernesto Van der Sar, 29 Dec 11:38 AM Screeners are advance copies of recent movies that are generall

Where Are the Pirated Movie Screeners This Year? Ernesto Van der Sar, 29 Dec 11:38 AM Screeners are advance copies of recent movies that are generally sent out to critics and awards voters for review. These copies have regularly ended up in the hands of pirates after which they're widely circulated online. That includes screeners of potential Academy Award nominees, which usually appear around December. In recent history, hundreds of these screeners have leaked early. In 2015, for example, a a spree of high-profile screeners were released by the Hive-CM8 group. These allegedly came from the talent agency Innovative Artists which was later sued by Warner Bros. During the past two years, the first movie screeners surfaced even earlier in the season. In 2020, the first ones came out in October and a year later the first leaks appeared in September. These 'digital screener' leaks were linked to film festivals, instead of awards show voting. No Screener Leaks This year, however, things have been rather quiet on the screener front. While many awards screener links have already been sent off for review, the first have yet to leak to the public. Looking at recent history, it's almost unthinkable that no pirated screener copies will appear online this year. For more than two decades they have leaked in significant numbers, often from Hollywood's own connections. So why would that stop now? While it's still possible that a wave of new screeners will come out during the next few days, several developments make that less likely than usual. EVO? Many of the screeners leaked in recent years were published by the release group "EVO", which mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. The group used to post a steady stream of TV and movie releases, not just screeners. This regular posting schedule came to an abrupt halt last month and hasn't resumed. EVO's disappearance was followed by unsubstantiated rumors of an arrest. We haven't found any hard evidence of an enforcement action but leaking screeners is a risky endeavor that draws the attention of the largest Hollywood players. There are only a few groups that are willing to take these risks. Even if there are other release groups that have access to screeners, these may be spooked by EVO's sudden absence. Screeners Lost Relevance This enforcement threat may play a role in the absence of leaks this year. The fact that all Oscar screeners are now sent digitally may also help to increase security, although that's certainly not a silver bullet. A third and perhaps even more important factor is the overall relevance of screeners in today's movie piracy landscape. Piracy groups typically release pirate screeners when there's no high-quality copy of a movie available online. This was very common in the past, due to the long window between theatrical and Blu-Ray or digital releases. That's no longer the case. Today, release windows have shrunk significantly or disappeared altogether. When Netflix releases a new movie a high-quality copy is posted to pirate sites soon after. As a result, a screener of an already-released Netflix title is useless for piracy groups. Rare Breed The shorter release windows have made screener leaks a rare breed. In the early 2000s, it was pretty common to see screeners of all Oscar contenders leak online before the winners were announced. Last year, the volume dropped below 10% for the first time. The fact that fewer screeners leak doesn't mean that piracy is less prevalent, of course. On the contrary, screeners are less relevant because there are other high-quality leaks of the films already circulating online. This doesn't mean that screeners no longer exist in the streaming era. Depending on the release date, voters still need early access to a Netflix or Disney+ film if it's not on the platform yet. All in all, we can conclude that it is certainly notable that there haven't been any screener leaks thus far this year. However, it's not entirely unexpected; It's simply a sign of the time. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Russian Cinemas Get Help to Bypass Sanctions to Screen "Avatar: The Way of Water" Ernesto Van der Sar, 28 Dec 09:41 PM With its invasion of Ukraine, Russia ignited a regional conflict with global repercussions. Thousands of lives have been lost and many more ruined. In response, many U.S. entertainment industry companies took a stand by ceasing their Russian operations. Since Russia is a relatively small source of revenue, the damage is mostly contained for the major Hollywood studios. For the Russian cinema industry, the effect of sanctions is devastating. In fact, Russia's Association of Cinema Owners warned that the entire industry could collapse. Evading Sanctions In response to the restrictions, several theaters had to get creative to keep visitors coming through the door. This includes the use of pirated films, with some converted to Digital Cinema Packages (DCP) so they can be displayed on the big screen. Many of these DCP releases come with Russian dubbing. Interestingly, our previous research suggests that these packages are sometimes shared between cinema locations using unlisted torrents. For the movie industry, pirate screenings are seen as a bare necessity to keep the lights on. And since there are no legal options available, Alexei Voronkov of the Russian Association of Cinema Owners understands this move. "I can't even blame cinemas now dabbling in torrent screenings," Voronkov previously said, after condemning pirate screenings early on. Screening Avatar These piracy issues drifted from the headlines in more recent months, but with the release of this year's blockbuster "Avatar: The Way of Water", the topic is hot once again. Russian cinema owners recently promised that, one way or another, the movie would be screened locally. Even decent-quality CAM rips were being considered in the absence of better-quality options. A recent "Avatar: The Way of Water" CAM This promise was indeed kept as several cinemas began showing "Avatar: The Way of Water" to the public a few days ago. Interestingly, the theaters didn't have to rely on low-quality pirate releases either. Independent Russian news outlet Meduza reports that several movie theaters managed to get their hands on high-quality DCP copies. These are reportedly sourced from "friendly" countries such as Kazakhstan, and come complete with Russian dubbing. Unauthorized screenings are taking place in cities including St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Krasnoyarsk. How these theaters receive their DCP copies is unknown, but unlisted torrent transfers could be involved. Delays and Tricks Not all movie theater chains are taking part in these illegal screenings. The Movie Distributor's Bulletin reports that the major chains have reached a private agreement to keep Avatar 2 out of theaters until January 13. This "gentlemen's agreement" was reached because there is already a healthy stream of visitors around New Year. "In this way, cinemas show that they are responsible for the Russian film business. We all ended up in the same boat, and if we don't help each other in this situation, then further coexistence within the industry will be difficult," a source explained. Not all cinemas are bound by the agreement but there are concerns that openly advertising the screenings could have legal ramifications. This has resulted in some interesting workarounds, such as showing Avatar 2 as a free preview to a 17-minute Russian film "I See". "Free pre-session service 'Avatar: The Way of Water' – duration 3 hours 12 minutes. The break between the pre-screening service and the film is 1 minute. The film 'I See' – duration – 17 minutes," one movie theater states (translated) on its booking page. Legalizing Piracy? Interestingly, movie theaters that use pirated content to stay in business, also have piracy as their main competitor. A few hours ago a relatively high-quality Telesync copy of Avatar 2 made its way onto various pirate sites, which might tempt some Russians to stay at home. The Association of Cinema Owners is well aware of the difficult situation and has lobbied the Government for relief. This may now be on the horizon in the form of a newly proposed law that would allow Russian theaters to show unlicensed movies, without fear of legal repercussions. However, with everything that's going on in and around Russia in recent months, copyright infringement is unlikely to be the country's main priority. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2022 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company