Marvel Seeks to Subpoena Google Over 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' LeakMarvel is moving swiftly on the possibility it has an Avengers: Age of Ultron leaker in its midst, going to a California federal court for the issuance of a subpoena on Google.
The entertainment company says in court documents that someone using the name "John Gazelle" posted a file of the film on a Google Drive account. On Oct. 22, a lawyer at Marvel parent Disney sent Google a takedown notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, requesting that Google expeditiously remove the file.
But Marvel wants more identifying information about the alleged infringer. The company is going after the IP address associated with this user's YouTube and Google+ accounts.
The exact nature of the uploaded file isn't detailed in court documents, but according to recent news reports, there's been circulation of an early trailer of the much-anticipated superhero film as well as a clip of a scene featuring Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr.
Disney/Marvel has a lot riding on the film and surely doesn't want to take any risks. Although X-Men: Origins did fine at the box office after a copy of the film leaked in 2009, the leak of Expendables 3 earlier this year came before the film bombed. Lionsgate went to court shortly before the film came out this past summer and got a restraining order against the operators of torrent sites accused of circulating the action film. The movie still underperformed expectations.
Below is the declaration filed in court by Matthew Slatoff, executive director of global security and content protection at Marvel.
Are you sure about that? I had always read that Disney went after daycare centers that had murals featuring Disney characters on the outside walls. And then Universal used the stink to get their own publicity to let the daycare centers use their characters for free.