"Driving Miss Daisy" actor Morgan Freeman has set up a new digital partnership with a California firm to allow people to download films online.

According to Hollywood.com, the new venture is named CliskStar Inc. and will allow fans to download movies legally for a fee even before they are released on DVD. Some movies can be downloaded even while they are still being shown in theatres.

At the conference to inaugurate the new venture Freeman, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby", said: "Our goal is to deliver first-run premium entertainment to film fans around the world and to make film easier to buy than to pirate."