UPDATE: We’ve obtained the DMCA notice behind the lock. It was filed by a social strategist on HBO Max’s own brand social team, and it describes the infringement as “people discussing the spoilers of the first episode of Lanterns.” We have filed a counter-notification and requested a retraction. Full story here.
UPDATE 2: It didn’t stop at X. WBD’s enforcement vendor MarkScan has now issued a YouTube copyright strike against our channel over our commentary video on the leak, and Facebook has pulled the same video with no rights owner named in the notice. Counter-notifications are filed on every platform. Full story here.
The Lanterns DMCA campaign has now come for the press.
Hours after a fan’s meme about the Hal Jordan death leak got nuked off X, the Cosmic Book News X account was hit with a copyright strike and locked, over our post covering the leak.
What Happened
At 2:30 PM today, we posted our article — Lanterns Leak: Hal Jordan Killed Off In Episode 1, Manhunters Are The Villains — to X.
The post took off, clearing 74,000 views in a couple of hours.
Then the image on the post vanished, replaced by X’s notice that it was removed in response to a report from the copyright holder.
Right behind it came the account lock: X said it had received a compliant DMCA notice for content posted to the account, complete with a warning about its repeat infringer policy and a reminder that stacking up strikes can get an account suspended outright.
And the image that triggered all of this? The photo of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, the same publicity shot that has been running in Lanterns coverage across the trades since the day it was released.
Third Strike Of The Day
Keep count with us.
Earlier today, X user @damiebi10 posted a fan-made meme about the leak — built entirely on old comic art, with zero imagery from the show — and got hit with a DMCA takedown, prompting his response that the company is “unserious.” Fan account @G_O_A_T_Lantern then declared the leak real precisely because of the strike, in a post that blew past 21,000 views.
Now a news outlet covering the story has had its account locked.
All of it fits the pattern this marketing cycle has already set: the Lanterns trailer was yanked offline after it leaked the August 16 premiere date early.
Every takedown makes the story bigger, and every takedown gets read the same way, as confirmation.
Publicity Photos Exist For The Press
Here’s what makes this strike different from swatting a meme: publicity stills are distributed to the press specifically so the press will use them.
That photo has appeared in coverage from every outlet on the beat for over a year without a peep. The only thing that changed is what the coverage said.
Striking a news post over the studio’s own promotional image isn’t protecting intellectual property. It’s spoiler damage control with a DMCA form, and it tells you exactly which stories are landing too close.
We are reviewing our options, including filing a counter-notice.
The Leak They Keep Confirming
For anyone just arriving: the Reddit leak claims two timelines, the Manhunters as the season’s villains, and Hal Jordan killed at the end of Episode 1.
The timeline detail matches what showrunner Chris Mundy has confirmed on the record, and Hal’s death is what we said coming out of WonderCon back in March. Nobody runs a same-day takedown spree over a rumor that’s wrong.
See You At Hall H
The Lanterns Hall H panel is Friday, July 24, and Cosmic Book News will be in the room — our press pass still works even if our X account doesn’t.
Lanterns premieres Sunday, August 16 on HBO and HBO Max.
