http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21628615

Oh ffs

I think there's only one apposite response to this..

this is the same industry that has failed to pay tax on its earnings in the USA and elsewhere for years ...

To be honest I can't see any arguing against this. I can't start selling home made Star Wars (or whatever) stuff down the market, so why would it be OK on the mobile market places?

This. It's using someone else's work for your profit. If I set up a burger bar and called it McDonalds and used a clown as a mascot, I don't think anyone would be surprised when I get shut down.
Or are we thinking now that everything should be free for use forever however you want to?

exactly

I totally understand that it's their property, but somebody else is essentially promoting their films (and I doubt either they or the app stores are raking it in), there's a market they know about and presumably haven't addressed, and they're actually spending a lot more money on 'detection' than doing anything sensible.

And they've just drawn even more attention to the 'problem' now. Actually, maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for...

There is the issue of 'fair use' as it exists in the US but there is no equivalent protection in the UK. In theory, legal action can/could be taken on the use of copyrighted content used for satire or 'common good' purposes. The movie industry could be sensitive to those issues, but is anyone going to hold up their hand and bet that they will?

Don't forget lobbies for favourable tax treatment in this country as well.

Yes but they would either have to pay for a licence. Film linked games have to pay a licence fee because of the ties to the film. I suspect that the reason is that they have not paid for a licence. Though with something that only really has value for a short period like the Oscars or a sports event they try and maximise the revenues as fast as possible.

One example given is a wallpaper pack. It's difficult to see how anyone could argue "fair usage" when all they've done is rip pictures from The Hobbit and charging punters £1 a time. I've checked and there is already an official Warner Bros app for this, which is free.

For those "pirate apps" which are free, I suppose you might arguably compare them to things like fan-made desktop wallpaper and call it free advertising. However, profiting from someone else's work like that is just wrong - unless you've paid fairly for the rights.

I suspect that no royalty or license fee was paid, or even any acknowledgements, so the film studios are rightly peeved.