Oscar 'Screeners': The Most Pirated Contenders Of The Year

And The Most Pirated Oscar Screeners Of The Year Are...
FILE - This undated publicity file image released by The Weinstein Company shows, from left, Christoph Waltz as Schultz and Jamie Foxx as Django in the film "Django Unchained," directed by Quentin Tarantino. A line of action figures of the movie's main characters are currently on sale online, made by toy-maker NECA in partnership with the Weinstein Co. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, Najee Ali, director of the advocacy group Project Islamic Hope, will hold a press conference with other Los Angeles black community leaders calling for the removal of the toys from the market. (AP Photo/The Weinstein Company, Andrew Cooper, SMPSP, File)
FILE - This undated publicity file image released by The Weinstein Company shows, from left, Christoph Waltz as Schultz and Jamie Foxx as Django in the film "Django Unchained," directed by Quentin Tarantino. A line of action figures of the movie's main characters are currently on sale online, made by toy-maker NECA in partnership with the Weinstein Co. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, Najee Ali, director of the advocacy group Project Islamic Hope, will hold a press conference with other Los Angeles black community leaders calling for the removal of the toys from the market. (AP Photo/The Weinstein Company, Andrew Cooper, SMPSP, File)

Only a few movies will win Oscar gold, but for digital pirates, the high-quality DVDs called "screeners" -- sent to more than 6,000 Academy members each year -- are the real treasure. Released far before consumer DVDs, these studio-polished video recordings are infinitely more reliable than the stock that so often finds its way to pirate sites -- in-theater camcorder recordings and shaky takes of movies ripped from hotel pay-per-view.

Oscar contenders "Django Unchained," "Anna Karenina," and "Hyde Park On Hudson" were just three of six screeners leaked to piracy websites last week, according to TorrentFreak. Earlier this month pirates were treated to screeners of "The Hobbit," "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Hitchcock."

The slice of the world that uses, say, the Pirate Bay to watch videos isn't a microcosm of the whole movie-watching world -- so the most watched pirated films are a bit surprising. Check out our gallery of top screeners below.

"Django Unchained"

And The Most Pirated Oscar Screeners Of The Year Are...

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