Game of Thrones has the dubious honour of being popular with both pirates and viewers.
After its fifth season began earlier this week, users of a Twitter-owned live-streaming app shared the fantasy drama.
The audience for the debut of the hit swords-and-dragons series increased by 1.16 million viewers, or 17 per cent, from last year’s season premiere, according to Nielsen estimates.
HBO hasn’t released figures, but reports say nearly eight million viewers tuned in to the premiere, the best start yet for the series based on the works of George R.R. Martin.
HBO said on Tuesday it sent “take down” notices to Periscope, the app that allows video streaming from users’ phones to their Twitter followers.
Twitter, which recently acquired Periscope, said the app complies with US copyright law and will respond to valid take-down requests.
On Monday, HBO said four unaired Game of Thrones episodes that were leaked online had come from within a group authorised to receive preview DVDs.
HBO indirectly chided Periscope, saying in a statement that app developers should have tools to “proactively prevent mass copyright infringement” and not rely solely on being notified after such incidents occur.
In a Periscope copyright policy posted online, the company said it expects users to respect intellectual property rights and asks those alleging copyright infringement to contact it with details and proof.
The policy also says that Periscope reserves the right to remove such content without prior notice and to terminate the account of a “repeat infringer”.
