WB Took Pains To "Delay" Pirating of Dark Knight

Jay writes "The L.A. Times is reporting on a new studio tactic — not to prevent piracy, but to delay it, as was the case with special tactics used with Dark Knight. 'Warner Bros. executives said the extra vigilance paid off, helping to prevent camcorded copies of the reported $180-million film from reaching Internet file-sharing sites for about 38 hours. Although that doesn't sound like much progress, it was enough time to keep bootleg DVDs off the streets as the film racked up a record-breaking $158.4 million on opening weekend. The movie has now taken in more than $300 million. The success of an anti-piracy campaign is measured in the number of hours it buys before the digital dam breaks.'" You know what else helps to have a big opening weekend? Making a good movie.

Comments

Hey WB!

[Ariastis]

Why so serious??

Re:Hey WB!

[Osurak]

Want to see a magic trick? I'm going to make these bootleg DVDs disappear.

And another thing

[Minwee]

You know what helps to prevent piracy?

Making a really terrible movie.

There are people out there who will track you down, smear you with honey and stake you out on top of an ant hill if you catch you distributing copies of "Alone in the Dark" or "BloodRayne". It's how the community polices itself.

From the article:

[martin_henry]

"If the movie's a stiff, and word gets out too early that it's a stiff, it's devastating to the business model," Garland said.

here come the tears...

Re:From the article:

[moxley]

Wow...I never though of it this way.

What if...What if everything could be like that?

Tell me more about this "only do things that you really want to do" philosophy....It sounds revolutionary...

Re:From the article:

[fracai]

Perhaps you would like to subscribe to Machtyn's newsletter?

Re:From the article:

[Firehed]

Only if you really, really want to, of course. No pressure.

Re:From the article:

[markov_chain]

Why not make it illegal to talk about the movie? There could probably be a copyright basis somehow, and apparently it does hurt the business.

Re:From the article:

[neonmonk]

I'm going to wait until at least the 2nd or 3rd edition...

Re:Honestly, now...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry, but I'm just not capable of managing that level of suspension of disbelief.

Hehehe. I know what you mean. I can suspend my disbelief long enough to imagine a guy in a bat costume flying and swinging around a darkened city fighting the forces of evil, but I can't figure out how a 38 hour delay makes any sort of dent in stopping piracy.

Re:Preserving our rights

[Anonymous Coward]

Shhh, Europeans know everything. Bow down before their mighty wisdom.

Re:Honestly, now...

[Anonymous Coward]

The congressmen can't be that stupid right?

Re:What about after the pirated copies were out?

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, would never have paid to see this excellent movie on the big screen in full surround if I could have downloaded a crappy camcorder copy with someone's head blocking 1/3 of the screen... nosiree!

Immigration?

[tepples]

Here in Spain

Does Spain offer asylum for refugees from the U.S. copyright regime?

Re:Preserving our rights

[autocracy]

That's because of all the cameras (at least, in Britain).

Appropriate media?

[Smivs]

Just wondering if pirated copies of The Dark Knight would look best using TDK media?

Re:Appropriate media?

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll certainly save on the cost of printing a cover.

Re:How do you know what a good movie?

[IndustrialComplex]

I'll tell you what. If a movie producer gives me their planned list for the director and the actors and a copy of the screenplay, I'll turn that around in 1 day and tell you if your film will suck or not.

Now, after a few years of me depriving Uwe Boll, SNL spinoff actor, and a few Wayans brothers of their livelyhood, eventually I'll reach a point where I won't immediately recognize the crap. At that point, I may be out of a job, but the films will be better.

So there isn't some 'hit-movie' button, but there certainly should be a lever to flush the crap.

Re:How do you know what a good movie?

[a_real_bast...]

Hey, now. The Wayan brothers and Rob Schneider have to eat, y'know.

Re:You know what else?

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a racist bastard you insensitive clod!

Re:well...

[Anonymous Coward]

I may or may not get alot off USENET. I may or may not have an unlimited account because the 50 gig a month account just wasn't cutting it. I may or may not have gotten "The Love Guru" because I may or may not actually "try" and watch anything. So a few weeks ago, I may or may not have been in my living room, folding/sorting socks with the Love Guru on in the background. It may or may not have been so bad that I actually stopped it so I could concentrate on folding my socks.

A hypothetically free DVD quality version of a new supposed Hollywood movie, in the air conditioned comfort of my alleged home was theortically so bad that I may or may not have turned it off so I could focus on sorting socks.

Oh, and Sock monster 5, Me 0.

Re:Pirating Nonsense

[__aauygf7127]

I wish. I just feel like a TV is an investment I'm going to have for 10 years and may as well get something good. I also got lucky bought a floor model so it was about the same price as most of the 42" or 46" TVs that my friends have. I don't think an HDTV is considered a luxury item these days any more.

Re:well...

[L Boom]

Yep. By those standards, the new Mike Myers film was phenomenally successful: Love Guru comes out as the least pirated major studio release in a decade.

Re:You know what else?

[utopianfiat]

This concludes the FOX News Commentary on this article. Next up: Barack Obama, secret muslim, or just a terrorist?