Universal Pictures says it is looking into a leak of its movie The Odyssey which was leaked illegally online, so that they have employed advanced digital forensic tools to help them catch the culprit.
The studio is also analyzing digital watermarks embedded in authorized copies of the film to see where the leaked footage originated. Such invisible identifiers would allow studios to track screeners, preview copies and digital cinema packages (DCPs), which would allow them to identify the source of the unauthorized leak.
Investigators are now looking at whether the incident was caused by an internal security breach of members of the company or organizations that had legitimate access to the film before it came into circulation. And they plan to investigate the distribution system - from post-production to marketing partners and exhibition networks, it is said.
The investigation is also targeting movie theaters that have already purchased advance copies of The Odyssey. The investigation has also looked at whether a rogue projectionist or theater employee could have used specialized hardware to directly copy or extract content from a Digital Cinema Package (DCP), the encrypted format used to distribute films to cinemas.
Modern DCP systems are encrypted and have playback security measures, but studios often have forensic watermarking technology embedded in every authorized copy. If leaked footage maintains these identifiers investigators may be able to identify which theater, screening, or recipient was the source of the breach.
Universal Pictures has not publicly disclosed the extent of the leak or any suspects. The company has also not disclosed whether legal action has been initiated, but copyright infringement investigations often involve cooperation with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies.
Movie studios have increasingly intensified anti-piracy measures as big-budget productions are more susceptible to online leaks before or shortly after launch. Unauthorized releases can affect box office performance, marketing plans, and global release strategy, and that is why rapid investigations are a high priority.
In fact, forensic watermarking is one of the most efficient means of fighting digital piracy and studios are able to trace leaked content even if copies are compressed or modified for online distribution.
Universal Pictures will be considering the security measures and distribution methods to prevent similar incidents in the future; the investigation will show how the leak happened and whether there needs to be more security measures in the theatrical distribution ecosystem.
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