Warner Bros. Goes After Movie-Streaming Subreddit

Warner Bros. is taking aim at Reddit, and, by proxy, Google.

Last week, Warner Bros. issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice against a popular subreddit where users can stream content. In the notice, obtained by TorrentFreak, Warner Bros. alleges that the BestOfStreamingVideo subreddit contained a copy of Interstellar for users to stream.

The takedown request was sent to Google and not Reddit, according to TorrentFreak, and asked Google to remove access to the subreddit from its search results page. Ultimately, Google declined that request. It generally avoids removing content from search unless required to do so, as it is in Europe via the "right to be forgotten."

The BestOfStreamingVideo subreddit doesn't actually contain streaming content on the page. Instead, subscribers, of which it has approximately 46,000, can go to BestOfStreamingVideo to get links to pirated copies of content they can stream online. Interstellar was added just a couple of days before Warner Bros. issued its DMCA notice, according to TorrentFreak.

Now that Google has declined the request, Warner Bros. could issue the takedown notice to Reddit. But as of this writing, the subreddit is still accessible, as is the Interstellar link.

Interestingly, BestOfStreamingVideo was targeted in a similar request in 2014 by LionsGate Films. In that case, the subreddit was again allowed to live on with no consequence.

Neither Warner Bros. nor Reddit immediately responded to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.