hopelessly devoted to deconstructing popular culture and conventional wisdom, one blog at a time

Free movies? Meet Peekvid

Published Friday, January 12, 2007 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

What's that, you say? There's no such thing as a free movie? Enter Peekvid. The site's entry page boasts more than 20,000 clips of your "favourite" TV shows and movies (the "favourite" spelling might be a clue as well as a decoy to finding the site's owner(s), although the site also breaks out categories for anime and Asian dramas, so hmmm). Certainly, copyright issues abound. And some of the movies are still showing in cinemas. So, how do they do it?

In the case of Little Children, the video carries the notation: "For Your Consideration." So you know that one is a screener that a critic and/or award voter got and uploaded illegally.

In the case of Blood Diamond, at least twice during one clip you can see people's heads obscuring the screen. So you know that one was taped at a screening. Also highly illegal.

Peek-a-vid, we see you! How long, though, before the studios track you down?

Labels: movies, online, TV