Jan 14, 2023 13:00:00

What is the reason for the decrease in the number of pirated movies before theatrical release?

Many Hollywood movies have been

pirated online before their theatrical release. However, in 2022, large-scale distribution could not be confirmed. TorrentFreak , a news site familiar with copyright infringement and digital rights, has released an analysis that the factors are due to the suspension of activities of famous pirated distribution groups and the shortening of movie release periods.

Where Are the Pirated Movie Screeners This Year?
https://torrentfreak.com/where-are-the-pirated-movie-screeners-this-year-221229/

In general, film critics and award judges are sent advance copies of upcoming films, called 'screeners,' to view and review films before they are released. However, when this screener falls into the hands of a person who publishes a pirated version, the work before public release will be leaked on the net. Pirated versions include Academy Award nominees, and many of them were released around December, but the release date was earlier, October in 2020 and September in 2021.

In 2022, however, screeners were sent to critics and judges in the same way as in previous years, but no pirated copies were released. A considerable number of pirated copies have been in circulation for over 20 years, and it is almost unthinkable that screener pirated copies will not be available.

TorrentFreak is one of the reasons why the number of pirated versions of pre-release works has decreased, as the group 'EVO', which released many of the screeners that have leaked in recent years, stopped its activities in November 2022. He suggested that rumors of EVO members being arrested or raided may have prompted other groups to refrain from activities.

Another factor is that screeners for Academy Award nominees have been sent digitally, resulting in enhanced security.

And TorrentFreak cites `` shortening the release period after publication '' as an important factor in the decrease in pirated copies of pre-release works. It seems that the groups that publish pirated editions have basically released pirated screeners when there are no high-quality copies of movies that can be seen online.

In the past, it took months or even years for a movie released in theaters to become Blu-ray/DVD or digitally distributed. The period is shortened, and if it is an early work, distribution will start at the same time as the theater release. Then, high-quality copies will be available on pirate sites at the same time as the work is released, so the significance of existence of pirated copies derived from screeners will be lost.

In the 2000s, it was not uncommon for the screeners of all Academy Award nominees to leak and become pirated, but the percentage of screeners leaked in 2022 fell below 10% for the first time.

Shorter release intervals have made screener spills a rarity. In the early 2000s, it was common for all Oscar nominees to leak online, but in 2022, the outflow will drop below 10% for the first time.

However, although the outflow of screeners has decreased, the number of pirated copies has not decreased, and there are many 'high-quality copies' pirated copies distributed online.

``It's notable that we didn't see a major screener leak in 2022, but it's not entirely unexpected, it's simply a matter of the times,'' TorrentFreak said.