YouTube Hosting Pirated Full-Length Movies Again, Studios Don’t Seem To Mind


YouTube and film

YouTube is playing the unwitting host to hundreds of full-length movies once more, and film studios are hardly kicking up a row about it.

The Wall Street Journal reports that illegally uploaded feature films are making their way onto YouTube, but no one who matters seems to care. Most of the films you can find seem to be from Walt Disney, Columbia and Tristar, but those studios haven’t done anything to stop them from being illegally viewed.

Why not? We don’t know. Google launched Content ID in late 2007, which helps studios and other content creators identify copyrighted material illegally uploaded to YouTube and pull it down if they so choose. They can remove or block the content in certain geographical areas, or altogether across the net. Conversely, content owners can let YouTube sell ads on top of videos while they play.

Sooner or later, the studios might catch on and intervene. However, many of the films available at present aren’t terribly new, and weren’t exactly successful during their original runs. Gizmodo points out that the films available include The Three Faces of Eve, Misery, Battle Royale, and The Illusionist. You’ve probably heard of one or two of them, but maybe you see where I’m going with this.

It’s possible that they will allow old, under-performing films to be illegally present on YouTube so that they can collect ad revenue from them. It will all depend on the presence of ads in these films, and what studios choose to do when it comes to recent or successful films that are still profitable in the market. The Three Faces of Eve isn’t exactly The Avengers, after all.

Anyway. We’ll keep an eye on it for you and let you know how the story develops. Until then, Google away and enjoy a free pirated movie this evening.


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a seasoned professional with a strong background in growth strategies and editorial responsibilities. Kokou has been instrumental in driving companies' expansion and fortifying their market presence. His academic credentials underscore his expertise; having studied Communication at the Università degli Studi di Siena (Italy), he later honed his skills in growth hacking at the Growth Tribe Academy (Amsterdam).

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  1. Lol there's hundreds of movies on it, plenty of new ones like the avengers. Maybe do a little more research next time.