When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was confirmed on February 24, governments, companies, brands and individuals quickly joined in the veto against the country led by Vladimir Putin. This was the case with technology companies like Google or Apple.
Since then, Russian businessmen have had to look for alternatives to avoid the collapse of their businesses. There is one that has particularly caught the eye and it is the one that has to do with cinemas and Hollywood films, now replaced by pirated copies.
The American film industry has also decided to sever all relations with Russia. Studios as important as Warner Bros., Sony or Paramount stopped sending the latest releases to the Soviet country and theaters had to make do.
The Association of Russian Cinema Owners issued a statement to clarify its position in this situation and to criticize that these sanctions could lead to the collapse of the sector in the country, which cannot be sustained only with domestic productions.
To avoid the 80% drop in revenue that this organization has predicted, some cinemas have decided to resort to pirated copies of films such as The Batmanillegally downloaded via platforms such as BitTorrent.
Russian cinema channels start broadcasting foreign films downloaded from the Internet
● Pirate screenings have already shown Batman, Don’t Look Up + the cartoon I’m Blushing.
● Hollywood giants Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, etc. had all stopped releasing new films in Russia pic.twitter.com/2mYd08jMOI— Jason Corcoran (@jason_corcoran)
April 27, 2022
This organization tried to distance itself from this illegal practice, although it was sensitive to the situation. For now, entrepreneurs who have opted for illegitimate dissemination have not encountered any impediment or sanction for copyright infringement.
It must be remembered that The Batman It can already be seen on HBO Max, but this Warner Bros. service, like other streaming platforms, Diffusion like Netflix or Spotify, suspended its operations in Russia to position itself in favor of Ukraine in the war.
