VidAngel is a streaming service that allows subscribers to filter out nudity, violence, swearing, or anything else they might find offensive in a movie or TV show. Today, a federal appeals court dealt the latest blow to VidAngel, saying that the service likely violates federal copyright law, and keeping in place an injunction that prevents the service from reproducing and streaming videos without permission. [More]
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Recording Industry Sues Site That Lets You Rip YouTube Clips Into MP3s
By 9.28.16
There are a number of sites and services that will let you easily convert a streaming YouTube video into a more usable file. YouTube itself has gone after some of these sites, but now the recording industry is challenging the legality of a popular site that allows users to rip audio-only MP3 files from YouTube clips. [More]
Warner Bros. Demands Copyright Takedown Of Its Own Websites
By 9.6.16
It’s like that scene in a bad 1990s straight-to-video psychological crime thriller where the cop runs a suspect’s fingerprints — only to find he’s the suspect! Except now it’s a major movie studio flagging websites that it created and owns as copyright pirates. [More]
Warner Bros. Paid Popular YouTubers To Post Positive Clips About Video Game
By 7.11.16
Being a “social media influencer” must be a pretty sweet deal: People send you free stuff, and pay you money just in the hopes that you’ll say nice things about their products. Problem is, those companies can get into trouble if the influencers don’t properly reveal that they were paid for their commentary. [More]
Warner Bros., BMG, Rightscorp Agree To Pay $450K For Using Robocalls To Hassle Alleged Music Pirates
By 1.12.16
Even when you’ve been accused of violating the copyright of a major music publishers, you still have the right to not be harassed by unsolicited pre-recorded calls demanding payment for those supposed violations. That’s why Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and other defendants have agreed to pay out $450,000 to thousands of alleged music pirates. [More]
Warner Bros. Trying To Block Devices That Get Around 4K Video Copyright Protection
By 1.4.16
A week ago, Warner Bros. home video folks announced they would be catering to the growing number of 4K TV owners by releasing 35 recent titles — including Mad Max: Fury Road and The LEGO Movie — on ultra-HD BluRay discs. Two days later, the entertainment giant was in court, suing to stop a company from selling devices that would let users get around the digital copyright protections on these, and other, 4K titles. [More]
Warner Bros. Ditching Certain ‘Dukes Of Hazzard’ Toy Cars Amidst Confederate Battle Flag Controversy
By 6.24.15
Joining retailers like Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Sears in ditching products that feature the Confederate battle flag, the studio that holds the consumer license for images of the iconic car from The Dukes of Hazzard says it won’t sanction the manufacturing of any products that feature the flag known as the rebel banner. [More]
Pirate A 20-Year-Old Friends Episode, Get Hit With A $20 Bill From Warner Bros.
By 6.8.15
A quick search on our TV menu here in the Consumerist Cave finds that there are more than 150 episodes of Friends set to air on various channels — both cable and broadcast — over the next couple of weeks. Not bad for a show that’s been off the air for over a decade and which is also streaming in its entirety on Netflix. Given this ready availability, we don’t know why one would download a pirated copy of a Friends episode, but if you do, prepare to be slapped with a bill for $20 from Warner Bros. [More]
“Batman v Superman” Trailer Leaks Online
By 4.17.15
While the trailer for next year’s superhero showdown Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is supposed to be kept under wraps in the U.S. until after its IMAX premiere on Monday, a handheld video of the trailer has already made its way online. [More]
Why Are The Netflix Episodes Of ‘Friends’ Shorter Than Those Included In My DVD Set?
By 1.2.15
As we hit the afternoon of second day of the new year, many Friends fans might already be eyeballs deep streaming the entire series after its Jan. 1 release on Netflix. But with the super fans come super powers of observation, including a discrepancy noticed by a Consumerist reader we’ll call Gunther. He wondered why the Netflix episodes seemed to be shorter by about three minutes on average than the episodes included in his complete DVD set, noting that the originally aired episodes would’ve been closer to the length of the Netflix episodes. [More]
Warner Bros. Day After TV App Is Ideal For People Who Like The Only 3 Shows It Offers
By 11.16.12
Warner Bros. is betting that you really like Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and The Big Bang Theory. It seems that way at least, as those are the only three shows it’s currently offering through its new Day After TV app for iOS (only in the U.S.), which allows users to watch episodes the day after they air. At least they’ve got the attention of my 19-year-old female cousin. Damon is pretty darn dreamy.* [More]
Report: Warner Bros. Will Stretch New Release Rental Window From 28 To 56 Days
By 1.6.12
Apparently no longer content with the 28-day window in which it sells DVDs but doesn’t allow companies to rent them out, Warner Bros. is reportedly on the verge of doubling that time frame in an effort to starve viewers into starting to buy movies again. [More]
Movie Studios Set To Charge $30 To Watch Movies On-Demand While They're Still In Theaters
By 4.1.11
When we first brought up the idea of charging $30 for on-demand titles that are still lingering in theaters, less than 20% of you said you would be interested. But our little poll — and the protests of theater owners — hasn’t stopped everyone from moving forward with plans to launch the service in the coming weeks. [More]
Warner Bros. Starts Renting Movies Through Facebook
By 3.8.11
It was bound to happen eventually. Earlier today, Warner Bros. launched a new program on Facebook that will let users rent streaming movies directly through the social networking site. [More]
Blockbuster Express Agrees To 28-Day Delay On New Warner Bros. Releases
By 12.16.10
While bankrupt video chain Blockbuster Video is spending millions on TV ads to trumpet its immediate access to new releases, the folks behind the Blockbuster Express rental kiosks have made a deal with Warner Bros. and other studios to delay renting new titles by 28 days. [More]
Warner Bros. Considering Longer Delay For New Releases On Netflix
By 11.3.10
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. was one of the first home video companies to make a deal with Netflix that would delay the availability of new releases by 28 days in exchange for greater access to Warner’s catalog. Now the company says it is mulling over the possibility of making that delay even longer. [More]
Blockbuster Uses Canadian Stores As Collateral To Make Deal With Fox & Sony
By 4.8.10
Never you mind Blockbuster has admitted they might need to declare bankruptcy, or that it’s in danger of being thrown off the NYSE, or that its single biggest investor dumped his stock in a 3-day fire sale… the once-majestic video rental giant is still gripping onto life with both of its arthritic hands, having signed deals with two more studios — Fox and Sony — that will allow Blockbuster to make new movies available across multiple platforms on the day of release. [More]
