Buenos Aires, Argentina (CNN) -- Tomas Escobar created a website in his bedroom in rural northwestern Argentina hoping to help people locate free movies online in a more efficient manner.





From that small start in September 2009, EscobarÂ´s site, Cuevana.tv, has grown to one of the most popular entertainment sites in Latin America, attracting 15 million unique monthly users, according to Escobar.





"It was a hobby, a small thing. And it exploded in my hands," Escobar tells CNN.





But it has also attracted the attention of international media companies armed with lawsuits.





The success has transformed the unassuming and unkempt 22-year-old college dropout into something of a cult hero in the Spanish-speaking world. It took weeks of negotiations to get Escobar to agree to an interview with CNN, his first-ever with an international TV news organization.





"Cuevana has a lot of complications now that weren't thought of in the beginning, like servers and traffic. We are now trying to solve them in steps," Escobar says.





Visitors to Cuevana can access thousands of titles -- the majority of them big-budget Hollywood productions with Spanish subtitles -- entirely for free. According to Escobar, Cuevana doesn't host the titles itself -- it simply serves as a content clearinghouse.





"It's the same concept as Google. You have a lot of links and indexes, and the user searches for these, and you give them the links," he says. "So really, the legal compromise is on the other sites, not on Cuevana," Escobar says.





But many companies and artists disagree. In November, HBO Latin America and Turner International Argentina - both, like CNN, part of Time Warner - took legal action against Cuevana in Argentina.





HBO declined to provide CNN with details of its lawsuit against Cuevana, which alleged infringement of HBO's intellectual property rights.





Turner Argentina asked a judge to block Cuevana from providing access to three of its original series, including the Steven Spielberg-produced "Falling Skies." The three shows are no longer on the site.





"It is one of the first judicial decisions in Argentina and Latin America, so we are proud to defend the intellectual property laws, we are proud to defend our own productions, and we are proud to defend the assets of our company," says Victor Roldan, director of legal affairs for Turner International Argentina.





But it is not only deep-pocketed international studios taking Cuevana to task for providing free content without compensation. Local Latin American producers say they are feeling the pinch too.





"The problem is that all regulations were skipped, and all the control was given directly to the Cuevana users. This is damaging to producers, directors, and the entire film industry here," says Cristina AgÃ¼ero, president of the Argentina Association of Film Producers.





Yet, Cuevana is still going strong and gaining more users every day. Escobar says many filmmakers are anxious to have their work available on the site, as it exposes them to a much-wider audience.





"They end up making more, not less, money," Escobar says.





For millions of Cuevana users, the choice between watching a movie for free in the safety of their own home and leaving the house to spend money on a DVD rental is an easy one.





"I am not in favor of piracy, but I think sites like Cuevana should exist where you can access free movies. But the sites should pay the producers with money they get from advertisements," says





Federico Troilo, 38, a Cuevana user in Buenos Aires.





Cuevana does make "thousands" of dollars in monthly advertising revenue, according to Escobar, but all the money goes to maintaining the site. Cuevana has no employees, only volunteers, but Escobar concedes that the website could one day make him very rich.





"Right now we are just working hard to improve and continue to be the number 1 option in Latin America," he says.





The key concept that Escobar and many of Cuevana's users are trying to promote
What does Cuevana offer? What did the website create? Who take legal action? Who founded it? How many people using the site? Who is going to take legal actions? What is attracting lawsuits?
free movies online locate free movies online HBO Latin America and Turner International Argentina Tomas Escobar 15 million unique monthly users, HBO Latin America and Turner International Argentina Cuevana.tv,
question: What does Cuevana offer?, answer: free movies online | question: What did the website create?, answer: locate free movies online | question: Who take legal action?, answer: HBO Latin America and Turner International Argentina | question: Who founded it?, answer: Tomas Escobar | question: How many people using the site?, answer: 15 million unique monthly users, | question: Who is going to take legal actions?, answer: HBO Latin America and Turner International Argentina | question: What is attracting lawsuits?, answer: Cuevana.tv,