Illegal streaming: More pirated blockbusters from cinema

More and more Hollywood films appear as pirated copies on the Internet shortly after their cinema release. The US industry is pushing for stricter laws, but the illegal stripes often get online from abroad.

Big Hollywood films are appearing on relevant illegal swap and streaming platforms earlier than ever before. Above all, the quality of pirated copies has increased enormously.

Films like “Black Widow”, “The Suicide Squad” or “Godzilla vs. Kong” could be downloaded on various illegal platforms just a few hours after their publication, reports the website “Torrent Freak”. The picture and sound quality are usually on a par with the original, because the pirates have found weaknesses in which to circumvent the copy protection of the major streaming platforms such as Disney, HBO Max or Netflix.

Millions watch blockbusters in the cinema – from home

The Warner Brothers-produced film “Godzilla vs. Kong” alone was illegally streamed 34 million times. The Disney film “Black Widow” also suffered from piracy. Already on the first weekend after the US theatrical release on July 9th, the number of visitors fell far short of the calculations of analysts and the film studio. At the same time, the blockbuster has been leading the illegal download charts for weeks. That was one reason lead actress Scarlett Johansson sued the Disney studio in early August.

Pirated copies often come from abroad

Film studio lobby firms are currently trying to persuade Washington politicians to pass new and stricter laws to curb the new trend.

But many pirates are not in the US at all, but in countries like China, where the US judiciary has no control. The fact that US films are so popular with viewers there is also due to the fact that many legal streaming services offer films in different language versions or with corresponding subtitles.

Loss of revenue for cinemas and streaming services

According to many experts, the corona lockdowns are partly to blame for the popularity of pirated copies that has been regained. In particular, the cinema chains, which have already suffered from the pandemic, are losing valuable income. But streaming services also complain less about new subscriptions. The “Wall Street Journal” quotes the operator of an illegal platform as saying: “Like Netflix – only without a password”.