Chapter 579: Online Piracy

Digital technology was now widely used across Hollywood. While it offered many advantages over traditional film, it also brought a new set of challenges.

Digital films were easy to store and transport, making their security a major headache for many studios.

Despite various encryption methods, the rapid advancement of the computer industry meant nothing was truly foolproof. Fortunately, Hollywood hadn't suffered any major leaks in recent years.

Duke, however, remained extremely cautious. He remembered how films like Wolverine, The Expendables 3, and The Interview had all suffered pre-release copy leaks for various reasons. While their circumstances were completely different, an early leak almost always dealt a heavy blow to a movie's box office.

Charles Roven was always in charge of the digital copies for Duke's team, but in accordance with standard Hollywood practice, an archived backup was also kept on Warner Brothers' encrypted servers.

The studios didn't do this without reason—it was to prevent the director or other crew members from tampering with the project. Hollywood operated on a robust set of rules. Production and distribution companies never trusted anyone blindly, maintaining strict oversight and preventive measures even for the directors and producers they hired.

There was nothing inherently wrong with this approach. An industry could only thrive with a sound regulatory system in place.

But storing digital copies on the company's servers carried its own risks. Although there hadn't been any such precedent in Hollywood yet, Duke remembered the past perfectly well. The leaked versions of The Expendables 3 and The Interview had both been stolen directly from servers.

Standard studio policy across Hollywood dictated that any film in production or under a distribution contract had to be backed up to the servers at every major milestone. Warner Brothers was no exception.

Duke's status, however, was far from ordinary. He was a major shareholder and board member at Warner. For him, this backup process was little more than a formality. Furthermore, he never hesitated to assume the worst about North America's highly commercialized society. Coupled with the memories he retained of those past events, he naturally took extra precautions.

Even putting those memories aside, Duke had survived a studio arson attempt in this life. He certainly didn't lack the necessary vigilance.

Time marched into April, and post-production on Iron Man was nearing its end. Complying with Warner Brothers' regulations, Anna Printz once again uploaded a digital copy of the film to the company's servers. However, no Warner personnel came to audit it.

Clearly, Duke was an exception for Warner Brothers.

Although Iron Man was produced by Marvel Pictures, Warner Brothers had co-financed the project. They were also the contracted distributor and had fronted tens of millions of dollars in early marketing costs. Distributors sat firmly at the top of the food chain, meaning Marvel Pictures, as a newcomer to the industry, still had to rely on Warner Brothers in many aspects.

Compared to the novices at Marvel Pictures, Duke also felt far more secure with Warner Brothers.

It was no secret that Warner Brothers kept a backup of Iron Man on their servers.

Every film company in Hollywood followed the same procedure; anyone with half a brain could figure it out.

Another workday came to an end. Inside their office at Warner Studios, Duke announced it was time to wrap up. People slowly filtered out, leaving him and Anna Printz as the last ones inside.

They took an electric cart toward the studio gates. Noticing that Duke wasn't heading for the parking lot, Anna Printz spoke up.

"Did you not drive today? Need a lift?" she asked.

"No need," Duke said, shaking his head. "Scar is coming to pick me up. She should be here soon."

He waved goodbye to Anna Printz and walked out alone. He had only been waiting in the shade by the roadside for a few minutes when the roar of an engine approached from a distance. A fiery-red four-door sports car screeched to a halt right in front of him.

The window slowly rolled down. Scarlett Johansson, sitting in the driver's seat, lifted her sunglasses.

"Darling, get in," she said. "What are you zoning out for?"

Duke pulled the door open, slid into the passenger seat, and fastened his seatbelt.

"When did you buy this car?" he asked.

"My godmother gave it to me." Scarlett started the car. Knowing Duke's preferences, she didn't drive too fast. "It was just delivered to Los Angeles yesterday."

The sports car roared past the Warner Building. Duke glanced over out of habit. It was clearly quitting time at Warner as well, with crowds of people pouring out of the building.

Many of them carried briefcases or document folders—the standard accessories for office workers. Among the crowd, a man clutching a medium-sized manila folder joked with a few colleagues as they walked to the street. He politely declined their invitation to grab a drink at a nearby bar, headed into the adjacent parking lot, and drove off toward his home in the Eastern Suburbs of Burbank.

Occasionally, he would stop at a small bakery on his way home to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry. Today was one of those days.

He parked his car on the street, tucked the folder under his arm, and walked inside. After smoothly ordering his usual coffee and pastry, he chose a random seat by the window. He sat there casually enjoying his snack while watching the sun sink below the ocean horizon, the picture of perfect relaxation.

By all appearances, he was just an ordinary office worker.

Just like always, the man spent about fifteen minutes in the shop. After finishing his pastry and coffee, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, left a generous tip, and walked out of the bakery.

He got straight into his car without looking back and quickly drove off, leaving the manila folder sitting on his chair as if he had never brought it with him at all.

The bakery was small and understaffed, meaning dirty plates usually sat for a while before anyone came to clear them. During that brief window, another customer holding a cup of coffee glanced around the room. Showing no mind to the uncleared dishes, he walked over and sat at the man's table. He quickly downed his coffee, casually picked up the folder, and boldly strolled out of the bakery.

He slipped into a car parked along the street and peeked inside the folder. Once he confirmed its contents, he pulled out his mobile phone and dialed a number.

"I've got the package. When do we make our move?" he asked.

"Wait for my signal."

A slightly hoarse voice echoed from the earpiece. "Do not act on your own."

"Understood," the man said, closing the folder. "I took your money, so I'll follow your instructions."

He hung up, started the engine, and pulled onto a road heading east, slowly vanishing into the fading sunset.

The sun finally dipped completely below the ocean's horizon, and night gradually blanketed the Greater Los Angeles area. In the heart of America's most developed entertainment and media hub, nightfall was only the beginning for many.

Inside a luxurious mansion in North Hollywood, a small party was in full swing. The host, Dick Cook, continuously raised his glass to his guests. He appeared to be in excellent spirits, seemingly completely unaffected by Disney's recent setbacks.

Only Dick Cook himself knew the truth.

A wave of bad news had just arrived from across the Pacific Ocean. The relevant foreign authorities hadn't just leaned toward Warner Fox World—a negotiation team of professionals from Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox had already flown out there. The two sides were about to launch formal negotiations, leaving Walt Disney and Disneyland with rapidly shrinking prospects.

Dick Cook knew perfectly well that unless a miracle occurred, Walt Disney was doomed to lose this bid.

Disney could still push its products into that market without a Disneyland, but the nation across the Pacific wasn't exactly a free market. Even as an American, he knew that lacking official policy support and regulatory green lights made a world of difference.

If Disney wanted to launch its products there on a massive scale, it would inevitably be shackled by endless red tape.

Forget everything else—just looking at films, the delays in theatrical release dates alone would drive Disney's profits in that market almost to zero.

That was a massive market of over 1.3 billion people!

As Dick Cook was dwelling on this, his assistant slipped into the banquet hall and whispered something in his ear. Dick Cook excused himself to his guests and followed the assistant up to the second-floor study.

"I just got word..." The assistant kept his voice low, as if discussing a highly classified secret. "We have the package. However, there's a slight issue with the version. We—"

Dick Cook suddenly raised a hand, cutting his assistant off.

"No matter what they got, this entire affair has absolutely nothing to do with us or with Disney," he said. "This was merely the spontaneous act of a few fanatic moviegoers and Iron Man fans."

"Right," the assistant said, a faint smile touching his lips. "This has nothing to do with us."

To some extent, it was the truth. No matter how deeply anyone investigated the leak, the trail would never lead back to them.

Hollywood was full of shady dealings; this was just another drop in the bucket.

Besides, with the internet providing such an unprecedented level of freedom and rapid sharing, they didn't even need to fan the flames from behind the scenes.

"This ends here," Dick Cook instructed. "Never speak of it again."

"I know what to do."

With that, the assistant turned and left the study to handle the final cleanup.

Everything has two sides, and the internet was no exception. While it brought immense convenience, it also carried its fair share of negative consequences.

For the Hollywood film industry, online piracy had always been a massive headache. Even with robust copyright protection laws in place and the MPAA watching like a bloodhound—ready to sue the pants off anyone who crossed the line—online infringement cases still popped up one after another.

And right in mid-April, another major Hollywood-related online piracy scandal suddenly broke out.