Midweek Mumble – Film Piracy
Rodney is back for another mumble, this week he is here to talk about a subject close to all our hearts, Film Piracy…
I have a grudge to bear, dear film industry. I want to ask you a question. It’s a question the legal-eagles and suits have discussed well before now, and a “problem” plaguing the film industry that will only have resolution once a large number of people are in prison. Or bankrupted by lawsuits.
When is enough enough? For so long now, we’ve heard the film and music industry cry poor over lost revenue from illegal downloads and file sharing online. Apparently, the poverty line for major motion pictures is at such a perilous stage, the corporations have decided to pursue legal action against illegal downloaders via information gathered through social media and other internet-based information, mostly for very little actual gain save to thwart the online pirates. Sure, there’s a problem for filmmakers when you can walk down a street in Indonesia and find boxes of current release films available for as little as a single dollar. Yet, for all the bleating and moaning about lost revenue and how hard it is to get films financed these days, we have mega-budgeted films like The Avengers raking in record box-office receipts month after month, making studio arguments that they’re going broke seem like a complete fallacy. Think about it: Paramount and Marvel Studios spend $200 million to make and market The Avengers, and within a week of opening across the US – and three weeks after opening elsewhere across the world – the film rakes in nearly a billion dollars in box office. Roughly, that’s $800 million after costs. Go to any torrenting site within a few hours of a major film being released, and you’ll have available an extremely bad camera-clone copy of the film, filmed from the back of the cinema with a handycam, ready to watch, and no doubt the thousands of geeky teens sitting at their computers waiting to pounce just hit the mouse button without any thought about it, but the film made nearly a billion dollars regardless of the thousands who didn’t pay to go and see it.
My stance on film (and music) piracy is that it should be stamped out. Piracy does rob film studios of their rightful income, and no doubt there is a small flow-on effect for filmmakers getting their projects off the ground. But how can you say you’re losing money when a film you make earns more than the GDP of half the European Union? The pirates, the downloaders and those who just couldn’t afford to spend money going to the cinema (and really, it does cost a fair bit to go see a major new release these days!) will simply argue that if the cinemas didn’t charge so much then people wouldn’t need to pirate films. Externally, they have a fair point, I think. Attending a cinema does take a fair chunk out of the family budget, especially when you factor in the junk at the candy bar and perhaps even parking fees and whatnot. Yet the fact remains that many films make a substantial amount of money, in many cases an order of magnitude more than they cost.
To combat this “growing menace”, film studio’s have embarked upon a plan of attack many see as an invasion of privacy – they intend to track you down if you illegally download one of their films or television shows (damn, so now I can’t download Game Of Thrones direct from the US?) and prosecute you with all the legal power they can muster, and boy, can they muster a lot. What does this achieve, if nothing but removing one pirate from the system temporarily. Peer-to-peer file sharing sites, such as Pirate Bay, have long been the bane of film companies for tacitly approving of people sharing files – illegal or legal – with impunity. The tide is starting to turn, however, with recent lawsuits being made against a high profile torrent site (and the owner) and the closure of Megaupload.com, including the recent suit brought against Pirate Bay, have many asking if it’s just politicizing the issue or if there’s even anything the closure of these sites will achieve. New congressional bills such as SOPA and PIPA were designed to help crack down on illegal content sharing, however the privacy and civil liberties groups all rallied around the fact that it would even affect mega-giant sites like YouTube, perhaps the biggest online content sharing site in the world.
I think the proliferation of piracy amongst the internet generation indicates perhaps not a growing malaise to go out and pay for stuff, but a refusal to be forced to hand over money for stuff they’re not sure they will like. People are inherently lazy, and if it’s easier to download an illegal copy of a film instead of forking out half a weeks age to see that film at the cinema, I know which option I’d prefer to take. Save the money, right? I’m not trying to justify illegally downloading content, but I am trying to highlight a problem film studios are facing that they cannot hope to overcome with brute legal force. For one thing, the internet is already too uncontrollable to allow illegal file sharing to just disappear. There are always workarounds to torrent sites, and inevitably somebody will come up with a solution to it. The genie’s out of the bottle, guys. It’s too late to try stuffing it back in.
Instead, why not try and rework your business model to counter – not control – the piracy movement, and make it work in your favor. Imagine if everyone who wanted to watch The Avengers could download it for a dollar or two from a sanctioned site, in high resolution and good quality, and stream it to their television set in the comfort of their own home. Imagine if the millions of people who watched it in the cinema just paid $2 to download it at home. Imagine if somebody who couldn’t afford to go to the cinema decided to just spend that couple of dollars to download it too, instead of illegally doing so and getting a less-than-ideal copy of the film and having an average film experience… There’s no reason money can’t be made by simply looking at the distribution model for a film and making the internet work for you, instead of railing against those who work against you. You’d still make your money, people would still be satisfied, and those who still want to see it in the cinema can still do so – but by offering it for a small fee, a negligible fee, online within a week or day of cinema release, you’d scoop up a large proportion of customers who’d otherwise do it illegally. Lower your buy price, and get more people buying. Am I wrong?
Then of course you have the inevitable issue of disc cost – the amazing cost of a Blu-Ray new release to purchase – which still manages to make studio coffers bulge more than ever. How about this: make the Blu-Ray disc cheaper from the get-go, and get people who’d otherwise pirate a copy of one to actually buy it legitimately at a reduced price, you’ll still make your money back? Surely the budget balance can handle this brave and ingenious solution, right? The more people buying your product at a reduced cost, you’ll make less on margins but more overall.
You’ll never rid the world of film piracy – the idiotic use of staggered release dates and region coding on discs will always create a market for illegally obtained content, until studios wise up – but there’s ways of curtailing it without spending inordinate amounts of money chasing backroom bandits through the courts. If only the men in suits would wise up, they’d not have to go through all the Bill passing and foot stomping to get what they want. And until The Avengers only makes $10 million instead of $800 million, this problem is not going to go away. It’s going to take somebody with guts to make a change to the way it’s being done, by changing the way it’s done. In this capitalist world we live in, I doubt it’ll happen, but one can always dream.
About The Author – Rodney Twelftree
Aussie film fan Rodney has been writing about film, DVD and Blu-Ray since 1998, when he became Chief Reviewer at a now-defunct Adelaide-based online retailer. A fan of blockbuster and mainstream cinema, as well as dabbling in arthouse and independent forms of the industry, Rodney prefers to spend his nights and weekends in front of the television watching the latest release on Blu-Ray instead of out getting sloppy drunk like many of his friends. When he’s not out in the Front Room, Rodney can be found writing reviews for his own website www.fernbyfilms.com, helping good mate Al K Hall over at The Bar None, and dabbling in lists over at Top 10 Films.
So here’s my question: if you were a movie mogul in control of a film studio, and you wanted to try and minimize piracy of your product, what would you do? Comment Below…
Rodney Twelftree
I am firmly with you, and Mr Kermode on this one… a global release offering the consumer choice on how / what and where they see there film would stop piracy in its tracks.
People who want to see a film in the cinema … can, people who want the disk… can…. people who want to watch it at home without getting up… can….
All on the same day… It would work,
People make the same argument about the illegal drug trade – make things legal and the illegal trade will disappear over night… although the moral and social implications of legalising drugs is a more serious problem than downloading John Carter. The point is that there are alternative options to what’s worked prior to the digital age, and film studios need to embrace the technology, not try and bottle it up with legalities!
I’m sure it would work if it was done properly. Thanks man!
Piracy hurts DVD rental stores the most. I know most of them have shut down, but being the daughter of someone who owns a DVD store, it is hard to see it slowly dying because of people getting it online. Still, I can see why people would resort to the internet in order to get their movies.
One way of fighting it, though, would be to RELEASE MOVIES IN EVERY COUNTRY AT THE SAME TIME. Why hasn’t anyone thought of that before?
but then the problems appears in a form of different audience target. Some films simply will not sell in some countries but at the same time will have a small group of people who still wants to see it. So the only way for them to get access to this film is through downloading.
You know what, I’m gonna disagree with you a little, there Amelie. I don’t think the different audience target is such a major factor these days, because the world is such a small place and any good film will always find an audience, no matter their geographical location. Look at Attack The Block, for example – this film saw such a limited release here in Australia it almost sank without a trace, yet it went gangbusters in the UK and in the USA, yet on DVD it’s garnered a fairly large cult following. And don’t forget, marketing is different in different parts of the world, but there’s no reason the powers that be can’t keep their alternative marketing campaigns and still release films across the globe at the same time.
I’m thinking about other European cinema than the English one, especially film related to a country’s social and political situations that cannot be widely understood (unless you have a specific interest in this country’s history). So yes, Attack the Block is universal enough to be released everywhere, but if we take Polish cinema from the 80s for example, the situation is very different.
Woo! Rodney for president!
I really enjoyed reading article, and although I already have a strong opinion on piracy, I couldn’t agree with you more about making prices smaller on discs and films to stream on line.
I also think that it would be even easier to just put some adds on the websites you download things from and that way studio would raise as much money as they would by selling the copies cheaper.
Also, people who download films will go to cinema more often than those who don’t and it has been proven in many surveys.
Great article!
As your president, my first order of business is to radically change the film industry!
Thanks Amelie, you make a good point about those who download films also go to the cinema more than those who don’t – that’s my experience as well, although no doubt there’ll be someone somewhere with a statistic that proves otherwise.
Another great article, can I add my name to the list of people who think this is just common sense. I am sure it will get taken up and it’s amazing one of the ‘big names’ haven’t changed their outmoded business model. Perhaps it’s for independents to move to this new market and show the big boys how it is done.
I don’t pirate, never have, never will, I was shown the analogy of shoplifting and piracy once and never forgot. but i have been forced to use less than legit software to get these ancient circular formats converted into something I can play on my PC, TV and tablet. A downloadable version would stop me doing that. A couple of the films that I have purchased and then ripped have digital copies that come with them but in such restricted formats that I haven’t used them.
Something needs to change, the music business is slowly moving there, the written word is slowly getting there, really it should be cinema that should take the lead. (But they won’t until it is too late for them and their shareholders).
Thanks for the kind words, Dave. I just find it amazing that the folks with such a vested interest in making money would be adverse to trying to find ways of making even more. While I have yet to embrace the “digital copy” technology and watch a film on my iPhone, I can see how this might benefit certain folks who are time-poor, and I think it’s a sad fact that we’re all heading that way anyway. As Scott said, surely a multi-platform release, globally, would maximize profit by allowing those who want to see it their own way to do so without fear of persecution.
Just because cinema is the best way to see a film, doesn’t mean everyone wants to see it that way. Some folks are fine watching it on their tablets or on their PC, which should be embraced by Hollywood as just another medium for their product.
Not sure if offering a movie for $2 would do it. Someone would rip it and people would still download it. I think the future really is paying one amount each month and being able to see whatever you want. With music it’s happened with Spotify. With movies it’s slowly happening too with things like Netflix and Lovefilm. Once people can instantly watch tons of movies without having to download and having lots of choice they probably won’t bother anymore.
Thanks Nostra – re your first point, I agree, you’re still going to get a number of folks who just refuse to pay for a film, but by minimizing the loss to the studio by maximising the number of folks who see a couple of bucks as not a great cost, in the long run it would have to stop a lot of the piracy, wouldn’t it? Studios would have to be looking at things like Spotify to see if they can push the streaming concept (as I mentioned in an earlier Midweek Mumble) and I’ve no doubt that eventually that would be a legitimate workable solution, but in the shorter term surely other options should be considered. You raise some good points!
The problem isn’t Avengers, the problem is for smaller movies that won’t get that mass market.
While I too think that the film industry needs to find a new business model, one that includes a bright plan for how to make cinemas survive, I’m a bit tired of all the whining from people who are too cheap to pay properly for watching movies.
It’s not that expensive as it is and often it’s just a bad excuse for stealing.
I think it’s ridiculous how some people expect free lunches. People with creative jobs need to make a living like everyone else. Sure, there are companies that make huge profit and people who earn a lot. But it’s not the entire picture. There are many who struggle.
“A bad excuse for stealing”
I don’t think I have ever agreed with anything so much in my life.
On an additional note, I used megaupload and other filesharing sites for legitimate uses, I enjoy using custom smartphone software that is open source, as such the developers cannot afford to host these files personally. So when these sites disappear, myself and my peers suffer, thanks to the thieves out there.
I agree, Jess, there’s no excuse for stealing at all. I too am sick of folks whining about having to pay to watch stuff, and I admit I’m prepared to pay to watch films on Blu-Ray or even go to the cinema – but my point is that I can understand how sometimes it’s just out of the family budget sometimes, a factor which, thanks to human nature, helps drive the illegal content online.
As I mentioned, I’m not averse to pay for something, as long as it’s cost-effective to me and I can see some value out of it. I don’t think that’s too much to ask from these multi-millions dollar studios. I suspect that a resistance to alternative ideas is borne out of an Old Boys Club mentality from a lot of folks in Hollywood (and by Hollywood I mean the film industry as a whole) and it’s only when the tech-savvy generation work their way into the center of things will it begin to change.
God Bless all piracy!
It’s easy for you from US and UK to be opposed to piracy, but for most of us in the rest of the world, especially in poorer countries, piracy and torrents are THE ONLY way to watch fresh films and especially shows. Am I to live in eternal darkness and be left without my fave form of art because I live in a poor country which doesn’t have enough cinemas nor film distributors? And in which TV stations aren’t rich enough to buy new TV shows?
Then there’s this problem. That’s a tough one, Dezmond. One I don’t see being rectified any time soon. My condolences for your situation!
We live in the same condition Dezz
I really liked your article, Rodney. There are many reasons for a person like me to watch films or series online: 1) I hate watching dubbed films, which is the only thing cinemas and TV channels show in this country, 2) cinema prices – I do visit the repertory cinema often because it’s affordable (!), 3) availability – how am I supposed to be able to see the latest Indian or whatever other films without having to pay loads of taxes, shipping etc.?!
See, now that’s exactly why piracy is rife. People live in an instant world. People have been conditioned for “fast”, “faster”, “fastest”; and then we don’t get that from the movie studios. They’re shooting themselves in the foot. If those films were available to stream online, for example, then your problem would be solved (at least, unless you wanted to see a certain film on the big screen) to some extent… Movie studios, are you listening to this?
GREAT article. I dont’ care whether it would actually change anything but I think this forcing the customer to watch it how the studios want it to be watched has to stop. If it is the end of cinemas, it would be a damn shame but so be it if thats what the people want. Until the price of films (cinema, Blu-ray whatever) comes down, people will pirate. Some people will probably always pirate but there’s plenty more of us who won’t pirate but will become increasingly frustrated at the dinosaur distribution/exhibition methods.
On a similar note, when I wrote a piece on the Universal/Lovefilm dispute, somebody left me a comment saying if Universal can’t release their films to rent through Lovefilm then we should pirate them. And I do feel a lot of sympathy for that sentiment. If I can pay £14 a month for unlimited film rentals and one studio won’t sign up to it for whatever reason, then out of protest, I’m not paying extra to see their films. So that may mean I have to aquire them by other means.
You make a good point, Pete: the market will always be driven by the consumer, and until the big corporations figure this out, things won’t change. The current exhibition/distribution model is outdated, the problem is that nobody who makes the decision seems keen to change…. and until they do, things will continue unabated.
I’m not sure I would ever condone your actions re the Universal/Lovefilm situation, but that is certainly an annoyance the consumer doesn’t need. Again, it’s just a question of monday, and I reiterate my statement in the article above – when is enough enough?
While I agree with you in most cases, what about the smaller and noncommercial movies that have never, and likely will never be marketed?
I mean technically it’s still piracy but surely I’m hurting nobody by downloading someones recorded from Ukrainian TV, copy of a 60 year old film that you can’t buy anywhere.
If you’re having to resort to downloading a copy of an unknown film from Ukranian TV, Bonjour, then things have become pretty dire indeed.
You’ve highlighted a problem with my “solution” to the piracy issue, in that there’s a larger number of smaller budgeted films coming out that don’t get either the press the blockbusters do, or are just overlooked by distributors in certain countries. The positive thing about online technology is that somebody in the centre of Uzbekistan has the ability to stream/download a film from some dark dingy corner of South America if they want – as long as the content is online and there’s a financial model working in the background.
Online content has the potential to open up so many doors for struggling filmmakers, it just has to be done right, and people have to be open to the idea in the first place. Films like The Avengers will always gain enormous market saturation, but Aunty Flo’s 20,000 dollar short film will never achieve that – that’s not to say somebody couldn’t stream or download a copy of Aunty Flo’s film if they wanted to, there just needs to be some minimal financial recouping for that to happen, and the internet has the potential to do that.
It is sad but sometimes the only way for me to ever see an otherwise forgotten film is to watch one fan’s bootleg copy, which another fan has made subtitles for.
Nowhere along the line has any of these fans done anything for the purpose of stealing or gaining financially from it.
It’s all for the love of film, and in those instances I don’t even consider it piracy, it’s more in line with a museum recovering and placing an old artifact on display for all to see.
I blame piracy for studios think 3D is a good idea. That said, you can see why people have looked at economical ways of watching movies in this time of global recession while cinema ticket prices continue to rise. Why does it cost more to see a film in a lesser form – 3D I’m looking at you; and why has Odeon nabbed all the best seats in the house and said, if you want to use them, give us another £1!!!
Piracy is no good, but “they” drive people to it.
He he, sounds like a bit of a rant in the making there, Dan! Love it!! I agree with you regarding the overpriced tickets and software for 3D films, and as you’re aware I’m not a fan of 3D myself; where the studios have to be careful is that very fine line between gouging consumers by charging more for a better “experience” in 3D, and making an actual profit from it. Again, it’s only a matter of time before cinemas will have to look at their income modeling, because they won’t have a choice – the consumer will make that choice for them.
3D can go get stuffed, IMO.
Great post Rodney! I came from a country where there is no piracy law so pretty much EVERYONE does it. Like Dezzy, I certainly realize that’s the only way we watch films. But since I live here, I try to do things legally as much as I can.
Hi Ruth! This is an excellent pont: if there’s no law protecting piracy issues in yoru country of origin, does that make it okay to steal content? Morally, no. Legally, if there’s no recourse for prevention then that makes it open slather, so I guess if you’re going to pirate something, you have tacit approval from your government….? That’s a very interesting legal issue!
Actually, there is a piracy Law in Indonesia Ruth…but it doesn’t work well.
Morally..it’s not okay, I agree Rodney…but what else can we do? I love movies that aren’t available legally in my country. I would buy it without second thought if they are available.
The distributor only sells blockbuster movies…almost no Independent movie made it here.
The problem with a lot of countries in Asia is their laws based around ethics and morals etc – a lot of Islamic countries, or places with large Governmental control like China, for example, refuse to show films with certain amounts of violence or sex or alternative belief narratives, which goes counter to the prevalant culture af the country – so there’s not going to be a lot Hollywood can do to get their product out to these kinds of markets…. As much as I hate to say it, it looks like piracy in your country is here to stay….
The sex and the violence can easily be censored…the main issue is they really don’t want to take a chance in selling non blockbuster movies.
Hollywood movies get in here FAR easier than other country but what I want to buy is NOT from Hollywood…That seems to be my biggest problem.
I love Ghibli A LOT and all they sell are either Pixar, Disney or other Hollywood animations…so piracy is my way.
I am happy that they decide to release Sherlock (what a shock…a BBC series finally going to be released!!) tho I have seen it so many times (downloaded file) I am preparing myself to buy the DVD once it is finally released….I sure hope they will keep releasing something like this.
Ahah so there is eh? Well I’ve never seen it, I mean how do you explain all those stores selling pirated dvds EVERYWHERE out in the open, ahah. It is a tragedy that independent movies are practically nonexistent in Indonesia
Considering the quality of the films they DO produce (the recent Raid movie, I think was made in Indonesia) you’d think with all those people there’s be a bigger film industry going on…..
(SPEAKING FROM THE USA)
It does feel like the proverbial double edged sword. I think that opening up consumer options is great and for smaller films this model works quite well. I know Tribeca Films does this with many films – VOD, iTunes and theater release simultaneously. This makes me happy because most of these films do not have a life beyond NYC or LA. In addition, you don’t need to see some of these on the big screen. Now with these options, everyone else gets a crack at the film.
Exactly. I was thinking about it last night and I figured if the studio’s all got together and developed their own YouTube-stled website where films could be streamed or downloaded (digital copy style) direct from them, at the same day-and-date as the cinema release, then I think a lot of piracy will be removed from circulation. Sure, not all of it, but a fair amount.
There’s a lot to do with availability too. Films not getting worldwide release dates, people in other parts of the world get impatient and try and see the film in any way they can. Same goes for TV shows. Or sometimes some films aren’t even released anywhere but the States. Often the DVD/Blu-ray release is also limited too, which further infuriates the rest of the world and the need to try and find whatever it is you’re seeking, another way.
Get rid of regions on DVDs and blu-rays and get rid of regional release dates. Make everything open for the world at the same time. It’s one step to take.
Hear hear! I agree.
This is a VERY interesting topic!! I am one of many people who did piracy by either downloading or buying pirate DVD. The reasons are very simple…Indonesian movie distributor DID NOT sell the movies I really want to own.
I love movies but I am not a collector, I would either rent or see it in Cinema, I only collect movies when I REALLY like it or played by my favorite actors…the problem is my favorite actors are not those superstars whom DVD always being sold here. I want to own ALL Cillian Murphy and Benedict Cumberbatch movies but…where can I find it but through internet?
Indonesia is not a rich country, it is impossible for me to buy imported DVDs.
I really really want to own original DVDs of movies I love and of actors I love, if only the distribution of ALL movie can reach my part of the world.
Sounds like we have a problem in Indonesia that needs sorting!
Hear hear!!! The distributor should be more concern about minority like me
The whole thing is like hydra – you cut one head, it grows back. The idea of industry trying to capitalize on the new way of watching movies is the only solution – they should sell them, like music is sold on itunes – I doubt many people will search for hours for the file when it’s there, legally, for a reasonable price. the lawsuits won’t do a thing and the Internet can’t be controlled and they shuld learn that. Also there are certain movies you just have to see in the cinemas.
Seems we have a difference of opinion, Sati, which is cool. Honestly, I’m not sure what the real solution is, because it’s such a complex issue ranging from social, economical and geographical issues – as has been mentioned here in the comments. What I think we can definitely agree on is that SOMETHING needs to be done to curb piracy, and it’s typically American to think everything can be solved in the courts. What we need are people who can think outside the box, try something different and see if it sticks – who knows, somebody out there might already have the answer…..
Nice post Rodney. Not gonna lie, I used to download movies until Netflix came to the rescue. If you make movies available for cheap and convenience, piracy will be eradicated. It’s really all that simple.
Too true. I wonder why the suits haven’t figured this out yet….??
I’m not sure if piracy will ever end. Some people just refuse to pay for anything. I knew a guy at college who had the money to go to the movies, but he enjoyed “fighting the system”. What ever the hell that meant.
I wonder if “fighting the system” is similar to “fighting against the Man”?
I actually don’t think cost is the issue, except in certain extreme cases (and probably Blu-Ray prices). I find that availability is the bigger problem, at least for the smaller films that are more affected, as Jessica mentioned. There are so many foreign or limited release films that one hears about opening in the NY/LA market but it may be a year or more before it ever comes out. Then there’s all the older stuff that has never gotten a DVD release. If piracy is the only way to see something, it’s hard to call it stealing.
It might be hard to call it stealing, but stealing it is. I agree with you – smaller films get lost in the hubbub of the latest blockbusters at times, which seems to be an indicator that in order to recoup some cost, studios needs to rethink their outmoded distribution and release systems.
I agree with cheap and convenient ways to watch movies being the best way to combat piracy. I mean a theater near me has discounts on tuesdays($3 tickets) and i’ve went there a couple of times because of that. I think the price of movies is a major reason for piracy. I mean, if i didn’t happen to have Fandango bucks from a friend i wouldn’t have seen the Avengers last week.
I wonder when the studios will learn this. Also, i think the economy being in kind of shitty in most places also contributes to piracy, but i suppose the studio’s can’t account for too much. Still, i think as a industry they are doing better than most right now
With the world economy in the toilet, there’s probably more pressure on the film industry than ever before to try and restructure their modeling. Now that a lot more people can’t afford to go to the cinema every week (although box office records would say otherwise) you’d think an alternative, less costly option would be made available.
I’m one of those consumers who I feel doesn’t affect the movie industry one iota whether or not I watch a movie on a pirated movie site, or if I go my other typical route – renting it from a local rental store or buying it from the clearance bin of a used DVD store, or watching it on an endorsed free-download site like Hulu or Crackle. Either way, none of that money is going to the movie industry. And as well as the movies that just aren’t available anywhere in my area, or were never released to begin with, such as Corman’s Fantastic Four movie which is available to watch on YouTube.