Philippines cable network Orient Cable and Telecommunications aired a pirated version ofAvengers: Endgame. Though they have since removed the movie, they are now facing legal action. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans were the first to notice the movie was up, a day after it had arrived in theaters and well before many were able to make it to theaters to see it. This led to a public outcry on social media over spoilers. Marvel Studios, along with the cast and crew, worked tirelessly to prevent spoilers hitting the internet.
Orient Cable and Telecommunications is a cable operator in the city of Dipolog, Philippines, which offers pay-per-view services. While they didn’t technically air Marvel Studios' version ofAvengers: Endgamesince it was a pirated version, theatrical distributor Teatro de Dapitan is still filing legal action, accusing Orient Cable of violating the Anti-Camcording Act of 2010. The company can face a fine up to $30,000 and there’s a chance of imprisonment for its executives, though that seems a bit extreme. Thepirated versionis especially bad, even for a camcorder copy, according to those who have seen it.
Scenes fromAvengers: Endgameactually hit the internet a week before andMarvel Studios boss Kevin Feigewas not happy about the situation, though he was proud of MCU fans from all over the world for not sharing the leaked footage like wildfire. However, Feige has yet to publicly address the movie leaking out in full. But, Marvel Studios is on top of the world at the moment with one of the biggest movies in cinematic history.Endgamemade over $1.2 billion in just a few days and is continuing to set and break records.
Avengers: Endgameis more of an event than anything and people who wouldn’t normally see that type of movie in theaters are getting swept in the hype. Over a week since its release and there are still sold out showings, which bodes well for itssecond weekend in theaters. The Russo Brothers were able to pull off a pretty remarkable feat by tying up the loose ends of 22 movies and eleven years. For the most part, hardcore MCU fans seem to be satisfied with what the directors were able to do withEndgameandInfinity War.
As for what will happen with Orient Cable and Telecommunications, that is unclear at this time. A fine seems like the obvious way to go. This just goes to show how big the Marvel Cinematic Universe is all over the world. When Orient Cable was asked to take downAvengers: Endgame, they did so, but they replaced it with a pirated copy ofCaptain Marvel, so there’s a chance they could get sued for that movie too. We’ll just have to wait and see.PNA.govwas the first to report theAvengers: Endgameillegal TV broadcast debut in the Philippines.
