Downhill Battle’s Eyes on the Screen is being forced to take a new shape: After being contacted by lawyers for Blackside, Inc., owners of Eyes, Downhill Battle has taken down their torrent links to the film.

As a consequence, the amount of people with access to Eyes returns to the lucky whose local library has a VHS copy, or those with enough foresight to download a copy while the torrents were still available. We expect the number of possible screenings across the country to decline dramatically from what it could have been.

Of course, Blackside legally can ask Downhill Battle to take down their torrents. Of course, it’s still not legal to publicly show Eyes, since it includes archival footage it no longer has the rights to. But in the end, all that really matters is that a piece of our history is locked away from us.

Free Culture groups may still choose to hold a “community showing” of the film. But you may want to re-write your introduction.

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