How can a pirated blu-ray be released online before the official blu-ray release?
The Birdman (2014) Blu-ray has a release date of February 17, 2015. However, while surfing the internet I found a pirated copy of the movie's Blu-ray, 13 days before the official release.
So my question is: how can a movie's pirated Blu-ray be released on the internet before it's actual release?
Best Answer
Your link was removed as it pointed to a torrent website. That particular blu-ray was probably a "screener". Screeners are given to members of AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), as not all movies are viewed in theaters and not all movies up for nomination have been released on DVD/blu-ray prior to voting.
In some instances, movies found on these sites are culled from DVDs/blu-rays released in other countries, since not all countries release the same title on the same day. On other cases, the movies have been "leaked" by hackers or employees of the film studio or one of the post-production studios. i.e., a workprint of X-Men: Wolverine was leaked by one of the companies in charge of adding special effects.
Pictures about "How can a pirated blu-ray be released online before the official blu-ray release?"
How New Movies Can't Be Pirated (\u0026 How Movies Make Money)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Sora Shimazaki, Sora Shimazaki, Andrea Piacquadio, Andres Ayrton