Pirates Watch Oscar Nominated Movies At A Higher Quality Than Those Voting On Them

January 23, 2015 in Daily Bulletin

In a delightful article from a chap who seems would make for extremely pleasant coffee break conversation, Andy Baio wrote about piracy of Oscar nominated films:

  • Screeners are copies of films that are sent to the Academy members who vote to decide the winners of the Academy Awards.
  • They frequently leak on the internet so that internet pirates can enjoy the movies at the same time as the screeners.
  • The vast majority of screeners are sent to voters as DVDs.
  • Yet pirates leaking movies online are increasingly able to use high definition sources.
  • The number of screeners that were available on the internet peaked at 81% of Academy Award nominated movies in 2003.
  • Today the number is closer to 36%.
  • This isn’t a victory for anti-piracy efforts. Rather, it’s because nobody wants to watch them since pirates can download higher quality versions.

Read the full article with excellent charts, statistics, and more over here.

Source: Medium