Game of Thrones moet wel één van de meest succesvolle TV series ooit zijn, en daar is HBO dan ook heel erg trots op. Sterker ze vinden het juist een eer dat de show massaal gedownload wordt (als hun eigen server van de GO! service er uit knalt) door het internet. Wat ze niet leuk vinden is dat er fan screencaps maken en deze in eigen wallpapers verwerken en vervolgens online posten. Dat is waar HBO schijnbaar zijn ware gezicht laat zien, want ze bedreigen websites nu met rechtszaken en eisen dat de artworks offline gehaald worden. Wel... FU HBO.

The developing situation involves fan site ScreenCapped.net. The site hosts user-uploaded screenshots of popular movies and TV shows which its users transform into fan-created artwork.

The site has a pretty large archive of screenshots from dozens of movies and TV shows, which until recently included HBO's Game of Thrones and True Blood. But in a surprise move HBO has now accused the site of engaging in copyright infringement and ordered it to remove screenshots of these key titles. Screenshots from both shows no longer appear on the site.

Worried at the implications of the HBO DMCA notice, a petition has been launched on Change.org in support of the site and requesting that HBO reconsiders its move. In the petition, which at the time of writing has already received more than 2,000 signatures, ScreenCapped operator Raina Stephens lays out her request to HBO's anti-piracy director Jake Snyder.

"The fans and staff of Screencapped.net ask that you remove the DMCA against Screencapped.net so that the site may continue to provide HBO fans with high quality screencaps for non-profit use," Stephens writes.