【英语科技】华纳兄弟调查《哈利波特7》内容外泄

Warner Bros. is investigating how the first 36 minutes of the newest 'Harry Potter' film came to be posted on the Internet late Monday night, four days ahead of the movie's world-wide theatrical debut on Friday.

A spokesman for the studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc., declined to say whether it had yet figured out the source of the leak, but said an investigation was under way. The spokesman said the early release wasn't a promotional gambit.

The watermarked footage was made available for download on BitTorrent file-sharing sites such as IsoHunt.com and thePirateBay.org. Copies were still available Wednesday, though Warner Bros. said it was working to remove the illegal copies.

It's unclear if the leak will affect the performance of the film, the seventh installment in the 'Potter' franchise. The film series is the most lucrative in history, having surpassed both the 'James Bond' and 'Star Wars' series in 2007.

The previous six 'Potter' movies have taken in about $5.4 billion world-wide; Warner counts more than $1 billion in profit from them. The eighth and final 'Potter' installment will hit theaters next summer and will be in 3-D.

When an early version of Twentieth Century Fox's 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' leaked about a month before the film's May 1 release last year, it may have diminished the audience's appetite for the film.

'Wolverine' went on to take in more than $373 million world-wide for Fox. That's considerably less than 2006's 'X-Men: The Last Stand,' which took in more than $450 million, or 2003's 'X2: X-Men United,' which took in more than $400 million. Fox is owned by News Corp., also the parent of The Wall Street Journal.

Warner Bros. held premieres for 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I' in New York and London over the past week, but the studio spokesman said the footage wasn't stolen from those showings. The film has also been screened for critics and press, and the studio has already shipped prints to theaters.

'This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property,' the studio said Wednesday, adding that the company intended to 'prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law.'

Lauren A. E. Schuker

Warner Bros. Pictures华纳兄弟正在对最新一部《哈利波特》前36分钟片段外泄事件进行调查。

最新一部《哈利波特》（Harry Potter）影片将于19日举行全球首映，而就在此四天之前，影片前36分钟片段于15日深夜被上传至互联网，制片公司华纳兄弟（Warner Bros.）正在对此事进行调查。

时代华纳公司（Time Warner Inc）旗下的华纳兄弟发言人拒绝透露是否已查出片段外泄的源头，但说正在进行调查。该发言人说，影片提早外泄并非为宣传造势。

这一段带水印的影片可从IsoHunt.com和thePirateBay.org等比特流（BitTorrent）文件分享网站下载。华纳兄弟说正在移除这些非法拷贝影片，但截至17日仍可下载。

影片外泄是否会影响整部电影的表现尚不可知，这是《哈利波特》系列的第七部。该系列影片是史上成绩最好的影片，在2007年超过了《詹姆斯邦德007》（James Bond）和《星球大战》（Star Wars）。

《哈利波特》前六部全球票房收入约54亿美元，华纳兄弟从中赚取了10亿多美元的利润。第八部即最后一部将于明年夏天上映，将采用3D技术。

去年，二十世纪福克斯（Twentieth Century Fox）出品的《X战警前传：金刚狼》（X-Men Origins: Wolverine）在原定上映时间5月1日前一个月，其较早的一个版本遭到外泄，当时可能使观众对这部电影的期待有所减弱。

《X战警前传：金刚狼》随后为福克斯带来3.73亿美元的票房收入。这大大低于2006年《X战警：背水一战》和2003年《X战警2》（X2: X-Men United）的成绩，这两部影片的票房分别超过了4.5亿美元和4亿美元。福克斯与《华尔街日报》均属新闻集团（News Corp.）旗下公司。

上周，华纳兄弟在纽约和伦敦为《哈利波特：死神的圣物》（Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I）举行了首映式，但其发言人说，外泄片段并未从这两次首映式中被盗走。该片同时还为影评家和媒体播放过，华纳兄弟将底片交给了影院。

华纳兄弟17日说，这构成了严重的侵犯版权和盗窃华纳兄弟财产的行为。他还说公司打算将在法律允许的最大范围内对涉案人员进行起诉。

Lauren A. E. Schuker

（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）