× FROM THE NEWSROOM ASKBOX: COMMUNITY PSA REGARDING LEAKS OF TADC THE FINAL ACT
DISCLAIMER: G!News is a fan blog and is not affiliated with Glitch Productions or their showrunners, and personal opinions shared by staff do not represent this blog or the wider fandom. Any form of harassment and spoilers will not be tolerated in our community, so we ask to please be respectful. All media content belongs to Glitch Productions and other.
For the past few days, there has been a wide online surge of leaks claiming to be from the Episode 9 segment of TADC: The Final Act—the said film set for its theatrical release as early as June 4th. Many users, unrelated to those who posted, have been exposed to them without warning as a result. This includes fake/joke leaks thrown into the mix.
The central leak, the one that claimed to be the most credible, was a series of clips of Episode 9 Brazilian Portuguese Dub, put together in around 14 minutes in full. One version does include non-finalized English subtitles. TADC creator Gooseworx has been alerted to the situation by users who were concerned that the leaks may be real:
When another user commented on the fact that posts were taken down by copyright claims, she responded in a now-deleted comment, “ehhhh, who cares?”
However, after many have seen this as Goose being insensible of the situation, they later clarified with the following:
While they have yet to make an official statement, at the time this is written, Glitch Productions was also made aware of the situation and was, in fact, copyright-claiming for a percentage of leak clips on Twitter and YouTube, according to our sources. While most posts were taken down, it is not guaranteed to be eliminated completely, as many have already made and reposted copies of the originals; as any leak is, it spreads like wildfire. Even more so in the coming days of the theatrical release in early June.
G!News would like to clarify that just because they were struck by a copyright claim, it doesn’t automatically mean the clips were real; we were able to catch that some were joke/fake leaks before then. While it may seem like a move you may not agree with, taking down joke leaks, claiming only the real ones will support the fact that they were real. For a topic we’re talking about later, there’s the risk of a real leak being hidden within a fake one like a Trojan horse—that is something not unheard of from other studios aside from Glitch.
According to a Brazilian content creator on Twitter, Core, claimed the following (as translated from Portuguese) in a now-deleted post, "Yes guys, episode 9 of The Amazing Digital Circus has leaked. I reported everything to [Glitch] they already know what happened and who leaked it". This has not been confirmed by Glitch as of yet.
Because of the relevance, there are already people taking advantage of the situation, primarily the following:
Reposters—As said before, many have already reposted leaks. If not video, then screenshots and full subtitle transcript.
Hackers and Data Collectors—Take an example: there have been Twitter posts where an image is supposedly blurred for “the sake of spoilers”. However, for anyone who didn't look closely and clicked from temptation, it wasn't blurred to begin with; the whole thing is a Photoshop-ed image linked to malicious sites that could send you a virus or collect your data the moment you click, including your IP address. That is one way, others would simply give a link or convince you to contact them through DM’s. This supports the point above about copyright claims.
Xenophobia and Blame—Because the central leak was suspected to have been taken from a Brazilian server, there is a minority of users who blame the entire country of Brazil. There isn’t any confirmation that the leaker is even Brazilian themselves. If not the country, others blamed the dub team, Gooseworx, and/or Glitch, despite the fact that none of them had control of the leak being posted.
Before the copyright claims, G!News has been able to find and get a safe copy of the original leak, solely to verify its credibility and legitimacy. It was revised only by our EIC, who are aware and have agreed to view potential spoilers for informational purposes. To be clear, under no circumstance will we share or repost this video publicly and privately, real or fake. We also do not encourage others to actively search for these leaks. The following is G!News EIC about the review:
"Hello, everyone, Editor Ink here. I know that we have been receiving a lot of concerns from folks about whether or not the leaks are real, which is understandable as a Glitch fan myself. As a news blog, it’s logically our responsibility to verify any information that lands on our feet. But we are also fans running this blog, some not wanting to get spoiled at all, so the Ed. Board and I decided that I would be the one to review the leak. I do want to emphasize, if we haven’t already, please do not look for this or any other leak. I know that it is unavoidable and perhaps tempting, but if you want to support the creative teams, then please respect their work.
I will not be describing what the story is or any of the dialogue; it is part of our spoiler policy. Now, without further ado, the leak. The copy I got is the Brazilian dub version with English sub, 14 minutes and 10 seconds in total. From the looks of the watermarks, the original seems to be for accessibility purposes, which can be for caption testing. In that way, it kinda makes sense of the video’s low resolution. While the video is a video, it looks like it’s a couple of sliced-up clips put together into one. It doesn’t have all of the leaks that are currently roaming around.
I had to pull up the trailer for reference; any animated trailer would include finished segments of the final product, and the dub available. There were 6 clips from what I counted, about half of them from what we can infer already by the trailer. Nothing in Episode 8. There are spoilers for the ending, but not in full. The majority of the instrumentals (if there be any) are missing or muffled, and the dub seems pretty close to the original dubbers. The only thing I would say that is wonky for me personally is the animation. Not in the sense of “it’s fake” because it looks like the work of the actual animation team, but there were some shots where the lighting/rendering was a bit off. Though there may be an explanation for it, that being for dubbing and subtitle purposes, as the watermarks say. It’s common practice to give an unpolished yet solid version so they can release the OG, dubs, and sub at the same time. Overall, in my own opinion, you can take this as out of context. It spoiled a few stuff, yes, but there are still some story not revealed yet or even context around the clips. I think anyone could still enjoy it in its entirety in theatres or online. This is the best I can offer without giving anything away."
After the review, the copied leak we had was deleted permanently.
There have been as many people reposting these leaks as there are reacting to them. Some got exposed to spoilers without warning, others actively look for them. People are playing the blame game as a sneaky few use it to justify their terrible actions. People spreading misinformation, people who have seen spoilers already decided to cancel their tickets. In the center of it all, the true victims are the creative team who worked on this finale. Months of work, just for it to be leaked right before the theatrical release.
As said before, we cover news, but we’re also just fans like you. While we may not have a say on your actions or what you see, part of our mission is to provide a safe and informed space for the community. And so, we’ll do just that. Below are instructions on how to filter/mute the spoiler content on Tumblr and tips on how to avoid it:
Fair warning, even with many precautions, leaks can simply come out of nowhere, no tag or warning. An out-of-context frame wouldn’t be as damaging as being exposed to the whole thing, but we still advise being cautious until the date you view the finale. It will be hard, but not impossible. The choice to look away is yours.
The responsibility and blame for leaks solely fall on the people who posted them. Not the country of Brazil, Gooseworx, or Glitch. There are many ways the leakers could've obtained this content, such as: hacking, unsecured servers, getting a digital cinema package (DCP) copy, etc. There isn't confirmation how they got it.
If you truly care for the creative team and their work put into this, please continue to support them anyway you can; don’t let this stop you. Keep your ticket, be around for the YouTube premiere. No matter what you think of the way Glitch handled the theatrical release, it’s still going to have an impact on all indie animation. Let this be worthwhile.
For those who will continue to support the team, regardless if they stumble upon the spoilers, stay safe out there. If there are any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask us. Thank you, and hope you have a good timezone. And as always, please remember to be kind and respectful.
— Glitch Newsroom, signing off
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