Despite strict measures, many pirated copies of films in circulation are available on the Web as soon as they are released in theaters.
In France, illegal downloading seems to show some signs of slowing down, due to legal streaming offers, but other countries such as the United Kingdom remain strongly affected by this activity.
Good quality copies, just days after theatrical release
The British authorities have reinforced measures intended to fight against the so-called “cam” versions of films shown. This term designates the copies of a film filmed directly in the cinema, from the projection canvas, by spectators equipped with cameras.
Very often these copies are of poor quality, with a shaky image or the noise of the spectators in the room. But for the past few months, many films have been put online in completely correct versions.
One can for example, by looking for a few minutes, find copies ofAvatar: The Way of the Water of good quality, which means fewer admissions for its distributor, Disney, but also and above all for cinemas which are struggling to recover from the closures caused by the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021.
The United Kingdom faces a phenomenon that is difficult to stem
In the UK, filming a movie in a cinema can result in a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Several rooms have also implemented a protocol to identify pirate-spectators and catch them red-handed before notifying the police. Surveillance cameras in the halls are also used to spot offenders. The authorities were also able to count on the health passes, at the end of the confinement, which made it possible to find the trace of the people suspected of being at the origin of the pirate copies in free circulation on the Web.
According to a report, the FCPA (Film Content Protection Agency) was called upon to solve 125 film recording incidents in 2021 alone, a record number. Between June and August 2022, other pirate copies of astonishing quality circulated and are said to have come from British cinemas.
Despite this strict and proactive policy, the phenomenon is unfortunately far from over. The different people arrested for these facts did not know each other and lived hundreds of kilometers away from each other, proof that piracy is not due to a network, but to individual practices. The industry must therefore redouble its efforts to reduce piracy, while encouraging audiences to return to theaters.
Source : Torrent Freak
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