Marvel is getting closer to the source of a script leak from The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Before the film is released, the company intends to take legal action, according to what was stated by a source at Disney Hollywood Reporter.
On Monday, a California federal judge issued subpoenas to Reddit and Google directing them to identify the users who leaked the dialogue. The request came after the company went for information on who posted then-unreleased dialogue from the movie to the r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit.
Marvel will likely file a lawsuit against the person or group responsible for the leak. This could include referral to prosecutors for criminal copyright infringement, among other charges.
The mods posted to the subreddit dedicated to spoilers for the Marvel movies on Jan. 20, the subtitle file for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania After unconfirmed details of the plot were leaked to the site two months ago. The moderators said the translation confirmed the leak. The text is allegedly in a different language, requiring it to be translated into English before it can be published.
On Friday, Marvel requested “all identifying information” of users who run r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers as well as “any other user(s) responsible for posting, editing, and/or maintaining content” on the subreddit from January 15 through February. 15.
Google also issued a subpoena because it hosted a Google Docs file carrying the text, which was too long to post on Reddit.
The subpoena was filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which allows copyright owners to obtain information identifying alleged infringers. The law aims to criminalize practices aimed at circumventing procedures that control access to copyrighted works.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Join the ranks of other Marvel movies, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Home And Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, for which plot details were leaking out before its theatrical debut. In the era of COVID-19, Marvel has had a more difficult time keeping its secrets due to more people having access to sensitive information. The pool of potential leaks has expanded, for example, with the need for more visual effects artists, who regularly work from home.
Marvel could point out that the prosecutors are the ones the incident was addressed. To prove a criminal copyright infringement claim, the defendant must have willfully infringed copyright and looked to make money from the infringement. Prosecutors can also prove that the defendant made the work publicly available online knowing that the copyright holder intended to distribute it commercially in the near future rather than having to prove that the infringer intended to benefit commercially at the expense of the copyright holder.
In a statement, a Reddit spokesperson said the company is “committed to protecting the privacy of our users” and has “rigorous processes for evaluating legal requests and objecting where applicable.”
Marvel Studios and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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