Studio claims Innovative Artists infringed copyright by making copies of advance DVDs of films including Creed and In the Heart of the Sea

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Warner Bros is suing a talent agency for allegedly making copies of films from DVDs sent for Academy Award consideration and allowing them to be leaked on to the internet.

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The suit claims that Innovative Artists “set up and operated an illegal digital distribution platform” that “copied movies and then distributed copies and streamed public performances of those movies to numerous people inside and outside of the agency”.

These actions were “blatantly illegal”, Warner Bros says. “That illegality would be obvious to anyone, but especially to Innovative Artists, a talent agency that claims to promote the interests of actors, writers, directors and others whose livelihoods depend critically on respect for copyright.”

According to the court documents, the leaks were discovered after copies of Creed and In the Heart of the Sea appeared on file-sharing sites with watermarks indicating that they had been sent to a client of Innovative Artists. Warner Bros alleges that Innovative Artists used illegal ripping software to copy the films to its digital distribution platform, where they were then made available for downloading and streaming.

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Warner Bros claims that although those without an Innovative Artists email address could not access the distribution platform, “executives directed staff to provide access credentials to numerous managers, family members, friends and others outside of the agency”.

The suit alleges that in one case, Innovative Artists “granted access to all files within the platform to an individual at another company, knowing that the other individual intended to distribute copies of the movies in the file to others.”

In recent years, many film studios and TV networks have switched to password-protected advanced screenings online, but many Oscar voters still receive DVDs. Warner Bros’s case, which has been filed in federal court, could set a precedent for future prosecutions of leaks.

On Tuesday, Innovative Artists released a statement expressing surprise at the lawsuit but apologising for the improper sharing.

“Innovative Artists has fully cooperated with Warner Bros from the first moment Warner Bros informed Innovative that two award screener movies had been found on an Internet bit torrent site in December 2015,” the statement said.

“As Warner Bros well knows, Innovative management immediately shut down all access to award screeners in December 2015 and Innovative immediately ceased any further activity that is the subject of the complaint. Warner Bros is well aware, from its past experience with other industry entities, the sharing of award screeners is commonplace within the Hollywood community.”

“Innovative is sorry for the improper sharing of the screener movies and will seek to resolve this matter with Warner Bros on fair and reasonable terms as soon as possible.”