File Names are Important

Website searches begin with the file name.
You can learn a lot about a file based on its name. Content thieves choose their file names based on a set of guidelines known as the scene rules. These rules inform the public about the source and quality of the file and that helps them to select or avoid specific files for download. Knowing how to read these file names will also help you to look for your file online because you can incorporate some of these keywords into your search. Here’s a file name example.

Boyhood-filename

 

How to read a pirate file.
Reading from left to right, we see this file is a copy of the motion picture Boyhood, which was released in theaters in 2014. This file was copied from a Blu-ray disc, so the quality and video resolution is very high. It also contains subtitles. This file was created and originally distributed by a release group using the name EAGLE and it is in an AVI video format.

Try reading these file names. Can you determine how the content was stolen and what the audio language and the video playback may look like?

Boyhood.2014.CAM.x264.TiTan
Boyhood.2014.DVDscr.NL.subs.LOL.mp4
Boyhood.Momentos.De.Una.Vida.DVDrip.XViD.Español

With these file names in mind, you’ll see it is usually helpful to include the release year with the title name in your search. You may also want to use a translation tool to search for versions of the title created in major languages like Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Russian.

Format and Quality keywords.
These keywords are distinctive and they’re not referenced in legitimate products and conversations. As such, these can be the most helpful terms to add to a search for illegal copies found on torrent and cyberlocker websites. For example, a search for the title Boyhood would be phrased “Boyhood 2014” plus the quality keyword “x264” or “XViD.”

There may be times when you’ll want to include a source keyword to refine your search.

Source keywords.
These keywords are helpful to add to a search when we suspect a title has been stolen through a specific method like a camcording or a DVD screener and we are looking for verification of the same. We would use these terms in addition to or in place of the format/quality terms “x264” and “XViD.” The most common keywords are listed below and you’ll find more Piracy release termsonline.
CAM Theatrical camcordings
TS/Telesync Camcordings synced with audio from another source, i.e. another theater recording
DVDrip DVD copy
BDrip, BRrip Blu-ray copy
DVDscr DVD screener copy
WEBrip Force download of an Internet streaming video
TVrip, HDTV DVR or other copy of television broadcast copies

The release group name may be a helpful addition to your search terms when you’re trying to find a specific release. You can also search the file name, if you have it, to locate all websites that mention it.