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Warner Bros Discovery Piracy Marketing

Warner Bros files copyright infringement claim against its own website

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

September 6, 2016 | 2 min read

Entertainment giant Warner Bros has asked Google to remove its own website from search results in a bizarre piracy take down request.

Warner bros website

Warner bros reported its own website for piracy

The film studio claimed the site violated copyright laws, and asked the search engine to also remove links to legitimate streaming websites, including Amazon and Sky Cinema.

The requests were issued on behalf of Warner Bros by digital copyright company Vobile, which files hundreds of take down requests each month.

Warner Bros hasn't yet commented on the peculiar accusation against itself, which was first clocked by an eagle eyed reporter at Torrent Freak.

Another request from the firm saw Google asked to remove links to the official website for films like the Matrix and Batman: The Dark Knight.

The erroneous, and seemingly automated, requests come as the movie industry continues the fight against pirated content online. However, as TorrentFreak's editor-in-chief, Ernesto Van der Sar, pointed out Warner is "inadvertently trying to make it harder for the public to find links to legitimate content," which runs counter to its intentions.

"Luckily for the Hollywood studio, Google is there to save the day. The search engine spotted its mistakes and decided to take no action for the Amazon, Sky and IMDb links," he finished.

On it's website, Vobile explains that its VDNA technology is able to "automatically detect, track and report on instances where brand integrations have occurred in programming airing on television channels."

Warner Bros Discovery Piracy Marketing

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