After a pirated copy of "The Hateful Eight" was found on several file sharing websites on the Internet, The Weinstein Co. and the FBI has finally traced the source "back to a screener sent to an executive at Alcon Entertainment."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the newest Quentin Tarantino film was initially sent to Andrew Kosove, an executive of the film production company, which was confirmed with a watermark:
"Andrew Kosove, co-CEO of production-finance company Alcon Entertainment, was sent the 'screener' copy of 'Hateful Eight' for year-end awards consideration. That copy was signed for by an office assistant and later shared online, where it is now circulating on multiple file-sharing sites. Sources say officials with the FBI, working in conjunction with distributor The Weinstein Co., have been able to pinpoint Kosove's copy of the film as the source of the leak from a watermark on the DVD sent to him."
Apparently, the screener never even made its way to Kosove. "The screener copy of 'The Hateful Eight' that was sent to me at Alcon Entertainment never touched my hands nor was I aware that it had been delivered," Kosove said in a statement to Variety.
"In addition to cooperating with the FBI, we are going to conduct our own investigation to find out what happened. Piracy is a threat to our entire industry and as filmmakers we will not tolerate such illegal and despicable behavior," Andrew added.
According to Complex, "The Hateful Eight" wasn't the only victim of piracy. "The Revenant," along with other Oscar screeners started circulating on piracy websites on Monday, where two of the aforementioned films were slated for release on Dec. 25. Hive-CM8 was reportedly one of the groups that took credit for the leak.
After posting "The Hateful Eight" online, Hive-CM8 said: "DVDScreener 1 of 40. Will do them all one after each other, started with the hottest title of this year, the rest will follow."