Since the release of the first episode back in 2011, Game of Thrones has conquered the hearts of many people. Unfortunately for HBO, not all of those fans enjoyed it through legal channels.

For several years Game of Thrones has been the most pirated TV-show. This year, when the final season aired, the interest was once again overwhelming.

As highlighted in the past, Game of Thrones is good for many millions of downloads per week. The show is so popular on pirate sites that it visibly boosted traffic this year.

This will be the last year that the HBO show tops the chart though. The series has ended which means that the most-torrented title will be up for grabs in 2020. There are a few strong contenders for this spot, including Disney’s The Mandalorian.

The Disney-exclusive show is listed in third place this year but whether it will maintain its momentum remains to be seen. This year’s numbers may in part be boosted by the fact that Disney+ is not available globally yet.

The Walking Dead saw a dip in official TV ratings and has been passed in the ‘pirate’ list by a few shows including The Big Bang Theory and newcomer Chernobyl. The latter did very well as a mini-series, but won’t return in the coming years.

It’s worth noting that BitTorrent traffic only makes up a small portion of the piracy landscape. A lot of people use streaming sites and services nowadays, which generally do not report viewing stats.

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Below we have compiled a list of the most torrented TV-shows worldwide (single episode). The ranking is based on several sources, including statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers. Full season downloads are not included.

Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2019

rank	last year	show
torrentfreak.com
1	(…)	Game of Thrones
2	(…)	Chernobyl
3	(…)	The Mandalorian
4	(3)	The Big Bang Theory
5	(4)	Vikings
6	(1)	The Walking Dead
7	(2)	The Flash
8	(…)	Rick and Morty
9	(…)	Supergirl
10	(6)	Arrow

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Take Two Interactive’s Red Dead Redemption (RDR1) is considered one of the greatest video games of all time but the open world masterpiece had a considerable shortcoming.

Officially a console-only release, millions of PC gamers were denied access to one of the most expensive video games ever made, an itch that remains unscratched to this day.

With the 2018 release of Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2), developer Rockstar Studios finally bridged the gap but for many fans, not having the original title on PC was something that needed to be addressed. Back in August, this simmering demand looked like it was going to be met with an announcement revealing a new project titled ‘Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Project’.

The plan was not only to modify the Xbox360 and PS3 versions of RDR1 and bring the game to the PC, but also to improve the title with better graphics and additional features.

In September, however, things started to go off the rails. Project lead ‘DemandDev’ took to GTAForums to reveal that development had been stopped. He didn’t directly state that Take-Two had put him under pressure but complained of being bullied by a corporation.

“They done shady stuff getting my private info and contacted my family,” he wrote. “I’ve been contacting people to spread word. I’m not letting them them bully me and keep my mouth shut. I complied and stopped progress but hopefully I can sort out this.”

Several months later, sorting it out will now have to be actioned through the courts. On December 26, Take-Two Interactive filed a lawsuit at a New York court against a Johnathan Wyckoff and John Does 1-10.

“Take-Two brings this action to maintain control over its world-famous video
games in the face of Wyckoff’s publicly stated intent to distribute unauthorized software files that would dramatically change the content of Take-Two’s video games,” the lawsuit reads.

“Those unauthorized changes include but are not limited to importing the entire game map of 2010’s Red Dead Redemption into the 2018 game Red Dead Redemption II, enhancing graphics and visuals in Take-Two’s Red Dead Redemption game, and allowing players to play an enhanced version of the game on personal computer (‘PCs’), a platform for which Take-Two itself has not yet released the Read Dead Redemption game.”

Claiming breaches of its intellectual property rights and user licensing agreements, Take-Two says that it “repeatedly” asked Wyckoff to cease and desist. When these contacts failed to stop the project, Take-Two said it was forced to take legal action.

Take-Two’s lawsuit details two matters. The first, the ‘RDRII Project’, aims to add the full RDR1 game map to RDR2. This, the company says, would not only “dramatically change the RDR2 experience but also reduce interest in purchasing a future release of RDR1 or a RDR1 add-on map for RDR2. The company doesn’t state it intends to release either, however.

The second targets the ‘Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Project’ which Take-Two says would utilize game files from Grand Theft Auto V and RDR1 “to vastly improve the graphics and performance of the game” and enable players to play RDR1 on PC, where it isn’t officially available, “thereby destroying the market for an official, updated version from Take-Two, and creating competition for Take-Two’s PC-version of RDR2.”

Take-Two also takes issue with Wyckoff’s claimed hobbyist status by implying donations received are effectively payments and that the projects serve to drive traffic to his social media and streaming accounts. The company adds that efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully failed, claiming that Wyckoff suggested that if he didn’t release the project, it might somehow get “leaked” online.

Ultimately, Wyckoff was given until November 18 to comply with Take-Two’s demands but the company says the deadline came and went.

As a result, it was left with no choice but to file a lawsuit seeking “injunctive relief and damages that it will suffer as a result of Wyckoff’s direct and contributory copyright infringement under the Copyright Act of 1976”, breaches of Take-Two’s user agreement, and his “interference with Take-Two’s contracts with other Take-Two game players using his modifications.”

What happens next in the lawsuit remains to be seen but a post apparently made by Wyckoff a few hours ago suggests that his project is now “canceled”.

Take-Two’s complaint, obtained by TorrentFreak, can be found here (pdf)

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China’s government is regularly accused of not doing enough to prevent piracy but court records show that there are many copyright cases under consideration.

A particularly interesting case that has now reached its conclusion featured Youku Tudou Inc., one of the country’s top online video platforms and Baidu Wangpan (Baidu Web Drive), a cloud-storage service operated by technology giant Baidu.

Filed by Youku, the lawsuit claimed that despite the company holding the rights to distribute the popular TV series ‘Eternal Love‘ online in China, copies of the show were being made available to the public after being uploaded to storage accounts on Baidu Wangpan. Youku says it sent numerous complaints to have the content removed but according to the company, the response was insufficient.

While Baidu did take some action, Youku was still able to find more than 11,000 Baidu Wangpan accounts offering episodes of the TV series for viewing without permission from the license holder, Caixin Global reports (paywall).

The lawsuit accused Baidu of not taking down infringing links quickly enough, failing to take action against the accounts of repeat infringers, and not installing technology to prevent the uploading, storage, and sharing of copyrighted material.

Baidu countered by stating that its users had uploaded the TV shows and as a result, the company should not be held liable for their actions. It further said that it had responded to Youku’s complaints and that Youku’s demand for 29 million yuan (US$4.14 million) in compensation was excessive.

Local reports cite the judge in the case weighing whether the response of Baidu was sufficient, noting that more than 60% of infringing links were indeed removed but other content remained online.

The balance was ultimately decided in favor of Youku, with the Beijing court ordering Baidu to compensate Youku to the tune of one million yuan (US$143,000) and 30,000 yuan ($4,300) in expenses.

Both parties have appealed the ruling.

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Earlier this week we reported that Indonesia’s Information and Communications Ministry has continued its crackdown on pirate sites.

The Government body has blocked more than 1,000 domain names since July. Streaming giant ‘IndoXXI,’ which is listed among the 25 most visited sites in the country, was the main target.

The site has been blocked by ISPs in Indonesia before and also appeared on Hollywood’s radar. Despite the mounting pressure, it always managed to come back through new domain names.

That was also the case this time around. However, behind the scenes, the continued complaints must have made an impact on its operators as the site has announced that it will stop offering pirated movies in the new year.

“Very hard but must be done. Thanks to our entire loyal audience. From January 1, 2020, we will stop serving movies on this website in order to support and advance the country’s creative industry. Hopefully, the future will be better,” the translated message reads.

The announcement will be viewed as good news for the entertainment industry. However, as is usually the case when large sites shut down, there will be many others ready to take its place. Taking away one site doesn’t necessarily eliminate the demand from the public.

In any case, the surprise decision is big news in Indonesia. The ‘indoxxi’ hashtag was trending on Twitter earlier and the story has been picked up by several major news outlets, including CNN Indonesia.

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In September, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the game download portal RomUniverse.

The website, which also allows users to download movies and books, stands accused of massive copyright infringement, including that relating to many Nintendo titles.

“The Website is among the most visited and notorious online hubs for pirated Nintendo video games. Through the Website, Defendants reproduce, distribute, monetize, and offer for download thousands of unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s video games,” the Japanese gaming giant wrote.

RomUniverse profited from these copyright infringements by offering premium accounts that allow users to download as many games as they want, Nintendo further alleged.

The site’s operator, California resident Matthew Storman, is not backing down, however. He decided to defend himself in court and responded to Nintendo’s claims last October through a detailed motion to dismiss.

Storman didn’t deny that he is involved in the operation of RomUniverse. However, he sees himself as a Service Provider, who is not part of the ‘forum’ itself. On the contrary, the admin argues that he’s protected by the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions.

In addition, RomUniverse’s operator said that Nintendo is not the owner of the files and therefore has no standing in this case. Citing the First Sale Doctrine, Storman argued that those who buy games have the right to sell, destroy, or give them away.

“The First Sale Doctrine permits non-copyright or trademark owner to dispose of their copies as they see fit. The Plaintiff does not own copies on websites,” Storman wrote.

Late last week Nintendo responded to the motion to dismiss, describing is as wholly inadequate. Storman’s arguments “completely miss the mark” and his “smattering of passing references to other legal arguments are similarly unavailing,” the company counters.

Nintendo points out that Storman’s affirmative defenses are not supposed to be pled in a motion to dismiss. Looking beyond this procedural issue, the game company notes that they would not work either.

Starting with the first sale doctrine defense, Nintendo points out that this doesn’t apply to mass copyright infringement. It only allows an owner of a lawful copy to dispose of an individual copy of a work.

“Mr. Storman is doing much more than simply distributing any copy of Nintendo’s copyrighted video games he many have,” Nintendo writes.

“Instead, he is reproducing the video games, creating derivative works, and distributing hundreds of thousands of those derivative works. The first sale doctrine does not permit such blatant infringement.”

The DMCA safe harbor defense doesn’t work for Storman either, Nintendo notes. While RomUniverse’s operator didn’t specify which of the four safe harbors he relies on, it appears to be the one related to storage providers.

This safe harbor doesn’t apply, Nintendo says, as Storman himself uploads, organizes, and catalogs infringing content. That alone is enough to lose safe harbor protections. In addition, the operator also receives a direct financial benefit that can be linked to the infringing material.

In the motion to dismiss, Storman highlighted that Nintendo sent him DMCA notices, which should confirm that he indeed has safe harbor protection. However, the game company counters that these notices are irrelevant. A service operator itself has to make sure that it ticks all the boxes when it comes to safe harbor eligibility.

All in all, it appears that by defending himself, Storman’s motion to dismiss is not as strong as he might have hoped. The matter is now in the hands of the court which, at the time of writing, has yet to rule on the matter.

Meanwhile, RomUniverse remains up and running and Storman continues to request financial support for his legal battle.

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A copy of Nintendo’s response to Storman’s motion to dismiss the complaint is available here (pdf).

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