[1][2] Operating independently from the series producers, Downhill Battle initiated the "Eyes on the Screen" project, along with civil rights activist Lawrence Guyot, in January 2005 digitized copies of the VHS tapes to encourage the use of file sharing networks such as BitTorrent to distribute the film.
[4] They pointed out that widespread distribution of illegal copies would make investors and donors less interested in funding a public re-release.
Hampton's family, represented by the firm Akin and Gump, and Downhill Battle came to a settlement agreement.
As a result, soon after their campaign began, Downhill Battle removed their BitTorrent links and issued a statement asking that all digital and illegal copies of the series be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Eyes on the Screen campaign had been endorsed by groups such as the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, who wrote: "Therefore, in the spirit of the Southern Freedom Movement, we who once defied the laws and customs that denied people of color their human rights and dignity, we whose faces are seen in 'Eyes on the Prize,' we who helped produce it, tonight defy the media giants who have buried our story in their vaults by publicly sharing episodes of this forbidden knowledge with all who wish to see it.