The U.S. federals reportedly are conducting investigation to locate the pirates responsible for the leak and the illegal distribution of the action movie.
- Aug 2, 2014
AceShowbiz - Lionsgate is taking legal action over the leak of their movie "The Expendables 3". The studio names the operators of file-sharing websites like Limetorrents.com, Billionuploads.com, Hulkfile.eu, Played.to, Swantshare.com, and Dotsemper.com as defendants in their lawsuit.
The movie giant claimed they had sent several letters to each site demanding the movie to be removed. The plaintiff said they had contacted Hulkfile every day between July 26 and July 31 to get the Sylvester Stallone film yanked off the website, but got no response.
Lionsgate is now seeking a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, as well as actual and statutory damages. The studio is also seeking to have the defendants "take all steps necessary to recall and recover all copies of the Stolen Film or any portion thereof that they have distributed."
On top of that, Lionsgate reportedly has called U.S. law-enforcement agencies, asking for help to trace the pirates. "It is our policy to neither confirm or deny that an investigation is underway, unless or until it results in some type of public enforcement action," said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"The Expendables 3" which won't arrive in U.S. theaters until August 15 leaked late July in its high quality and has been downloaded more than a million times to date. Back in 2009, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" also leaked ahead of its theatrical release but it was available on Megaupload only in its rough cut.
Nevertheless, individuals responsible for uploading and hosting the file were dragged to court. Bronx resident Gilberto Sanchez was arrested for illegally uploading the film and sentenced to a year in prison. Megaupload was shut down and MPAA is suing the defunct website and seeking monetary damages.
