Redditor Convicted for Sharing Nude Scenes in Landmark ‘Moral Rights’ Copyright Case
Every day, millions of clips from movies and TV shows are shared on social media and other online platforms. These short clips may qualify as fair use when used as part of memes or parodies, for example. Depending on context, they can also trigger a criminal investigation, as happened in Denmark. In 2023, police started looking into a dedicated subreddit called ‘SeDetForPlottet’ (WatchItForthePlot) that shared sexually explicit scenes...
Cox Accuses Labels of ‘Distancing’ Themselves From “Two-Strike” Piracy Theory
The Supreme Court case between several major record labels and Internet provider Cox Communications is one of the landmark copyright battles of this decade. The outcome will determine how Internet providers should deal with pirating subscribers on their networks. Should alleged pirates be disconnected from the Internet after repeated third-party allegations of copyright infringement? Or does that go too far? In its opening brief, Cox...
IPTV Pirate TikTok Chef Avoids Prison and Sky Must Be Absolutely Livid
Investigations, prosecutions and substantial prison sentences are an important part of the anti-piracy arsenal. The public downfall of a prolific pirate provides the kind of deterrent messaging that can put people off before they even get started. At least, that’s a possibility, if everything goes according to plan. Sky Investigates TikTok Star UK man Simon Hannigan is a popular food and cooking star on social media. Active on...
DNS Provider Quad9 Sees Piracy Blocking Orders as “Existential Threat”
In May 2024, the Paris Judicial Court ordered Google, Cloudflare, and Cisco to block access to several pirate sports streaming sites. The move was a major enforcement escalation by French rightsholders, but in hindsight it was only the beginning. In the months that followed, additional rightsholders such as DAZN and beIN joined in on the action with similar requests, while more DNS providers were added as targets, including Quad9 and...
TorrentGalaxy.to ‘Returns’ as a Dubious Memecoin Promo Page
At the start of the year, TorrentGalaxy was one of the most-visited torrent sites, welcoming millions of users every day. Launched by former members of ExtraTorrent which had shut down in 2018, TorrentGalaxy soon established itself as one of the most stable torrent sites. TorrentGalaxy’s Mystery Shutdown In the summer of 2014, things changed when the original founders sold the site to a new, undisclosed party. The handover was...
Movie Theaters Can Compete With Piracy, But Not By Cutting Prices, Study Finds
There’s a common belief that people pirate content to save money, whether on another streaming subscription or a pricey box office ticket. That said, movie theaters still draw millions of visitors, many of whom may also turn to pirate sites occasionally. Since piracy isn’t going away, understanding what drives a person to choose the theater over a ‘free’ pirate option, and vice versa, is crucial for the industry. A new paper aims to...
