Warner Brothers 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.

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 Brothers 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 Brothers 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.

Warner Brothers 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 Brothers’ case, which has been filed in federal court, could set a precedent for future prosecutions of leaks.

Innovative Artists has not responded to a request for comment.

More about: