Leak Shield and piracy protection
Find pirated copies of your film.
Where to look, how often, and what to write down.
A pirated copy you never find stays up forever. Finding copies is the unglamorous half of anti-piracy: searching the same places on a schedule, recording each copy precisely enough for a takedown notice, and noticing quickly when a new one appears. The first weeks after release matter most.
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By uncompressed.io · Updated October 2026
Short answer
How do you find pirated copies of your film online?
Search the open web and torrent indexes for your film's title, year, alternate titles and director, on a schedule: weekly in the first month after release, then monthly. Record the exact URL, date and a screenshot of every copy, because each takedown notice needs them. uncompressed.io's Leak Shield runs this search for you and names the buyer behind each copy you confirm. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
- Search the open web for title, year and director
- Search torrent indexes for the title and year
- Record URL, site, date, screenshot and version
- Search weekly after release, then monthly
- Private chats and closed groups cannot be searched
- Leak Shield automates the search: USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year
Where to look
The places copies appear
and what you can do there
Notice requirements from 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3) and Google's legal help page, read 12 October 2026. Not legal advice.
The routine
A search routine you can keep
by hand
Build a term list
Title, alternate and translated titles, year, director, lead actors, and the title plus stream, download and full movie.
Set the rhythm
Weekly in the first month after release, when copies spread fastest. Monthly after that.
Record every find
URL, site, date, screenshot, length, subtitles and quality. The version can tell you which release leaked.
File and follow up
One notice per host. Check a week later that the copy is gone, and note the result.
Doing this by hand works for one film. It becomes hard to keep up with across a library, and it cannot tell you whose copy you found.
With Leak Shield
The search, on a schedule
from search to case file
Weekly
first month
after each release
Monthly
after that
for as long as Leak Shield is on
You
review each sighting
nothing happens on a match alone
1 PDF
case file
per confirmed leak
Leak Shield searches the open web and torrent indexes. Every buyer has their own invisibly marked copy, so a confirmed sighting names the account it came from.
When you confirm a sighting, the buyer is identified and blocked, their membership is cancelled, a takedown notice is sent and a PDF case file is kept. Leak Shield applies to films sold or streamed through your streaming platform, on any paid plan, for USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year. If you already found a copy of a screener shared by link, start with what to do if a screener leaked.
The limit
Questions
Frequently asked
How do I find pirated copies of my film?
Search the open web for the title, alternate titles, the director's name and words like stream, download or full movie, and search torrent indexes for the title and year. Record the exact URL, site, date and a screenshot of every copy. Repeat on a schedule.
How often should I search for pirated copies?
Most often right after release, when demand is highest. Leak Shield searches weekly for the first month after release and monthly after; a manual routine can follow the same rhythm.
What should I record when I find a pirated copy?
The exact URL, the site's name, the date and time you found it, a screenshot, and the version (length, subtitles, quality). A takedown notice needs the exact location of each copy.
Can I find copies shared in private groups?
No search can see inside private chats or closed groups. Those copies usually surface later on the open web, which is why a regular search keeps paying off.
Is there a service that finds pirated copies for me?
Yes. On uncompressed.io, Leak Shield searches the open web and torrent indexes for films sold through your streaming platform, and identifies the buyer behind each copy you confirm. It costs USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year.
What do I do once I find a copy?
Send a takedown notice to the host and a removal request to search engines, then work out whose copy it was so the leak does not repeat. The DMCA takedown guide lists what a notice must contain.
Let the search run on its own.
Leak Shield searches the open web and torrent indexes weekly for the first month after release and monthly after, and names the buyer behind each confirmed copy. USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year, any paid plan. Protection reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; it cannot guarantee a film never leaks or that every leak can be traced.
Sources
- 1.US Copyright Office: Section 512 of Title 17 (read 12 October 2026)
- 2.Google Legal Help: Removing content from Google for copyright reasons (read 12 October 2026)
