Part of new Harry Potter leaks, Warner Bros. wants revenge

Emil

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is set to premier this week on Thursday. Last night, the first 36 minutes of the movie leaked to torrent sites and via other download protocols.

Released by the group iNK, the leaked copy has the typical watermarks and other screener features, but because it is not the full movie, some are speculating that the clip was leaked to create anticipation for the movie. Users who download it will want to see the rest of the movie as 36 minutes is just enough whet your appetite and absorb you into the plot but obviously not enough to satisfy your Harry Potter hunger.

"Last night a portion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was stolen and illegally posted on the internet," Warner Bros. told Wired. "This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property. We are working actively to restrict and/or remove copies that may be available. Also, we are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law."

Is the major studio finally testing a theory that many copyright infringers insist on? That is, pirates believe that distributing a movie illegally on the Internet provides more of a marketing boost to a film than a revenue drain. Either way, the company's official stance is still the same: pirates need to pay.

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Hmmm...less than 48 hours before the movies release and only 38 minutes of it? If it had been the full movie and two weeks prior to release I'd say WB has a beef.

Otherwise, this looks like pure marketing ploy to me.
 
I also think this has a pretty high chance of being intentionally leaked. A reel of film lasts 11 minutes, the metal cases movies come in obviously hold a whole number of reels, so there isn't an easy way to get 38 minutes (like if only one case had been stolen).

Didn't Serenity have the first 10 minutes intentionally posted online before the film came out in theaters?
 
I think this could be a good thing if Wb would fess up and just call it a film demo. Film trailers are edited up so that a movie looks better than it really is. Let people watch 20 mins or so of the movie and let them decide whether they want to spend that 10-15 bucks on a movie ticket instead of tricking them with some trailer that is usually better than the movie itself.
 
TomSEA said:
Hmmm...less than 48 hours before the movies release and only 38 minutes of it? If it had been the full movie and two weeks prior to release I'd say WB has a beef.

Otherwise, this looks like pure marketing ploy to me.

^^This

I'd say you hit the nail on the head Tom.
 
Anyone realize how messed up it would be if WB intentionally released the clip online and then wants to punish the people who download it? I wouldn't put it past them, but at the same time, I don't think they are the ones who did it.
 
TomSEA said:
Hmmm...less than 48 hours before the movies release and only 38 minutes of it? If it had been the full movie and two weeks prior to release I'd say WB has a beef.

Otherwise, this looks like pure marketing ploy to me.

I was going to ask the ignorant question of the day as to how something like this that has more security than Kort Knox be leaked, but I guess that answers that.
 
Darkshadoe said:
I think this could be a good thing if Wb would fess up and just call it a film demo. Film trailers are edited up so that a movie looks better than it really is. Let people watch 20 mins or so of the movie and let them decide whether they want to spend that 10-15 bucks on a movie ticket instead of tricking them with some trailer that is usually better than the movie itself.

How could someone want to see a movie after the first 20 minutes? Practicly nothing happens on the 20 first minutes...
 
Shame about this, people should just be patient like most. I'm really looking forward to this film.
 
Kibaruk said:
Darkshadoe said:
I think this could be a good thing if Wb would fess up and just call it a film demo. Film trailers are edited up so that a movie looks better than it really is. Let people watch 20 mins or so of the movie and let them decide whether they want to spend that 10-15 bucks on a movie ticket instead of tricking them with some trailer that is usually better than the movie itself.

How could someone want to see a movie after the first 20 minutes? Practicly nothing happens on the 20 first minutes...

Just an arbitrary number. Would you prefer 30 or 40 mins? Fine. Whatever would be fair.
 
Warner Bros: pirates need to pay. OK, so how much do they want for this 36 minutes then?
 
Guest said:
Anyone realize how messed up it would be if WB intentionally released the clip online and then wants to punish the people who download it? I wouldn't put it past them, but at the same time, I don't think they are the ones who did it.

You mean like what Viacom did to Youtube? Yeah...we all saw how well that went, lol.
 
It's obviously intentional. If you take a look there actually isn't a watermark for iNK. The watermark is the faded Warner Bros logo that stays in the background throughout the whole video.
 
Lol pretty fail, only 38 mins hardly worth chasing these guys down. If It was the full movie then yea, but 38 mins, come on as many have said that will prob make people wanna see the rest! (by paying)
 
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