As the world mourns the loss of one of its greatest comedians and actors, Internet users from around the globe have been revisiting the genius of Robin Williams. Ever since news broke of the stars untimely death, classics including Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam and Mrs Doubtfire have seen download increases of up to 49,000%

As President Barack Obama noted yesterday, Robin Williams arrived on our screens as an alien in the 1970s and went on to touch the world with appearances in a string of high profile movies.

His performance in Good Will Hunting earned Williams the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor but there can be few who didn’t warm to him in Mrs Doubtfire or marvel at his energy in Good Morning Vietnam.

However, there’s an old saying that people only truly appreciate something when it’s gone and judging by the response shown yesterday by fans, that certainly holds true for Williams.

Taking a look today at Amazon’s best-selling movie/TV list, we can see that various versions of five different Williams movies currently occupy nine spots in the top 20, but of course there are other ways that people can relive his greatest moments. The quickest and easiest way is to grab something from file-sharing networks, and that’s exactly what’s happening now on a pretty noticeable scale.

At the top of Amazon’s top-selling list is ‘Dead Poets Society’ so it comes as no surprise that this is currently the most popular Williams title being shared using BitTorrent.

The day before news of Williams’ death broke, approximately 100 users worldwide were sharing this 1989 classic on public networks. Yesterday, out of nowhere, it received more than 50,000 downloads. At the time of writing, a ‘YIFY‘ version of Dead Poets Society sits one place ahead of the Liam Neeson movie Non-Stop in The Pirate Bay’s Top 100 most downloaded chart.

In second place, both on Amazon and on public BitTorrent networks, is the 1993 comedy Mrs Doubtfire. The most popular copy is a ‘YIFY’ rip of the Blu-ray edition of the movie that was first uploaded back in September 2012. Again, activity on this release has gone through the roof in the last 36 hours.

Following close on the heels of Mrs Doubtfire both on Amazon and on BitTorrent networks is the 1987 war-comedy Good Morning, Vietnam. Famous for Williams’ improvised and high-energy broadcasts, the movie went on to become one of his most lucrative. Again, the most popular edition on torrent networks comes from YIFY.

Next on Amazon’s list is Good Will Hunting, the movie for which Williams’ earned his Oscar. Yet again this movie’s popularity ranking is mirrored on public BitTorrent networks, sitting a few places down from Mrs Doubtfire as it does on Amazon.

At this point Amazon and BitTorrent diverge a little. At position 13 in Amazon’s Top 20 sits the lesser-known Patch Adams. The title is currently outside The Pirate Bay’s top 100 downloads but with several thousand people now on the most popular torrent, a breakthrough could come at any time.

Finally and also of interest is how the legal market has adapted and is better able to cope with surprise demand. During similar events in the past, sites like Amazon have completely sold out of DVDs and Blu-rays, much as they have with the more popular Williams titles today. However, many of the currently “sold out” movies are also available to watch online, meaning that no one has to miss out.

BitTorrent has always had the same ability, of course, but even today it can offer something not available anywhere else.

A pretty huge torrent released yesterday by RARBG contains a total of 40 Williams movies, from Popeye in 1980 to Shrink in 2009. It’s off to a slow start in terms of seeders (as expected in a torrent of this size) but it probably offers the most comprehensive set of Williams memories available online today.

“Robin Williams was a legend and truly deserving of all our love and adulation,” a commenter on this torrent writes.

“I don’t know what more I can do to honor his memory than to re-watch his old films and reflect on how they shaped my sense of humor, filled my life with joy, and provided me a happy/funny escape from reality in an otherwise bleak and depressing world.”

Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)