JK Rowling‘s new Harry Potter film is one of the most anticipated movies being released this year. So much so, that ‘someone’ decided to leak it online a few days shy of it’s theatrical debut.

This is not the first time that a film has been leaked prior to it’s release; a month before X-Men Origins: Wolverine was in wide release, an unfinished version was available on torrents sites all over the net.

Were these leaks simply a case of theft and copyright infringement, or were they planned marketing techniques used by the production companies involved?

There is some truth to the idea that insiders leak films for this purpose. Recently, Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl‘s film Killers had the first 20 minutes or so ‘leaked’ online as a strategy to hook movie goers into the theaters.

With regards to the idea that there was an intentional leak of Wolverine, Chris Aronson, an executive at 20th Century Fox said;

“I couldn’t think of anything more absurd”

With Deathly Hallows, there is a reported 36 mins of finished footage available for illegal download. Did the top brass at Warner Bros Pictures set this up?

Warner Bros released a statement on Tuesday:

“The stolen and illegally posted footage constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property…[W]e are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law.”

I know there is lots of debate about piracy in the entertainment industry, but personally, the fact that Deathly Hallows is available for download does NOTHING for me. It is a film I’ve waited years to see, and I want to see it on the big screen the way it was meant to be seen.

Will piracy stop you from seeing your favorite films in the theater? Tell me your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: Did Harry Potter Leak on Purpose? [E! Online]