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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: It's so easy to pirate content, some people don't believe it's pirated
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-14-2015 11:46 AM
I'm not suggesting that the camcordering of movies doesn't happen, only that it's not the source of most organized piracy. Time and time again people who have bought DVDs of Hollywood titles from backstreet market stalls in Shanghai (and I have to confess that I did once, purely out of curiosity) and similar sources report that one look at them is enough to see that the content simply couldn't have been mastered that way. A kid camcordering a movie will likely pass a copy of it to half a dozen other kids in his school, and no further. I'm not condoning that, just pointing out that clamping down on it will not stop the organized crime aspect of the problem.
As for drink-driving, Britain has similarly draconian laws to the ones Terry describes and California's are even stricter (jail is very likely, even if you are stopped for DUI but without causing an accident - in the UK you pretty much have to seriously injure someone while drink-driving in order to be sent down), but does not have significantly less of a drink-driving problem than countries that are more lax. I once read about a study which suggests that Russia probably has among the lowest number of drink driving-related deaths per head of population in the world, but it's in the top 20% of miles driven per head of population and the top 5% of booze consumed.
That is because most drink-drivers do it because of an alcohol addiction which prevents them from making a rational risk/benefit calculation. Most are incapable of this thought process: "I'd better not do this because the chances of being caught are significant, and if I am, the consequences will be serious". Organized movie pirates, on the other hand, are making a very rationally calculated risk/benefit calculation: "Once I've got the content over to China, which has no effective copyright legislation, my chances of being caught are zero and the amount of money I can make enormous." Therefore, the only way to stop them is to prevent them from getting the content.
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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012
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posted 02-14-2015 02:17 PM
quote: Leo Enticknap
As for drink-driving, Britain has similarly draconian laws to the ones Terry describes and California's are even stricter (jail is very likely, even if you are stopped for DUI but without causing an accident - in the UK you pretty much have to seriously injure someone while drink-driving in order to be sent down), but does not have significantly less of a drink-driving problem than countries that are more lax.
Leo, my point was that because of tougher drunk driving laws, drunk driving is not as prevalent as it once was, at least in Canada. It is a very serious crime that carry very serious consequences. Drunk driving because of the serious penalties does not occur all that often.
In contrast, accessing an illegal movie carries very minor penalties, there will always being drunk driving or piracy but if the laws were much tougher especially to those who access pirated films, we would maybe see a serious decrease.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-14-2015 06:05 PM
Well, old discussion I guess ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
But no, copyright infringement is not the same as stealing, that's why it's a different set of laws altogether. That doesn't make it right off course, it's just that there is an important difference. Also, yes, in a democracy, laws should be based on what the public thinks is right, otherwise it would be indeed some kind of dictatorship. You might argue many so called democracies around the globe already resemble something like that, but... different discussion. But essentially, It's all based on the conception that the public, at large, knows what's best for themselves. So, if the public at large finds piracy totally acceptable, then the laws should actually reflect this...
But yeah, those copyright laws are there for a reason. They do protect certain rights of the creators of "creative works". They're there to ensure those creators do get their due compensation for their work, so they can continue and create new, original creative works. With all the extensions on copyright terms, you could argue that the current copyright laws are missing one of their original intentions though...
Copyright laws in today's globally connected world are facing some true challenges. People like to share information, for free. Look at the Internet, the World Wide Web, you can find almost anything and most of it is totally free and instantly available.
All this "free content" also has a deflating effect on the perceived value of creative content in people's minds. So most people don't see much harm in illegally downloading a song or watching some bootlegged movie online. I doubt the public at large really considers this a crime.
Also, I guess there is a problem of perception here. If you look at Hollywood, all most people see and hear about are the filthy rich stars, directors, executives, etc. It's hard to get the public's sympathy by telling them that piracy has lead to celebrity X having to sell her big 10 bedroom Beverly Hills mansion. What they're missing is the entire industry connected to it, employing thousands upon thousands of people.
This piracy problem will never go away entirely, but there are lots of things that can be done to limit the damages inflicted.
New laws are not a solution. If you look at the copyright laws, especially in the U.S., you'll see they're already extremely strict and if you get caught, you're facing massive fines and potential jail time. Yet, those strict laws didn't solve anything, piracy is as ubiquitous as never before. I also doubt the public is really waiting for thousands upon thousands of "petty pirates" to be sent to jail or otherwise severely being punished.
First off all, Hollywood should start to treat their new releases like the Super-Secret-Coke formula*. Just do your homework and make sure this stuff doesn't leak prematurely constantly. This shouldn't be too hard, should it?
Secondly, and this is important for the exhibition industry at large: Make going to the movies a worthwhile experience. It should be way better than staying at home and watching a movie there. Don't you think people are a little fed up with thirteen-in-a-dozen multiplex-robot-cinema experiences?
Also, try to enlighten the public in what their money buys and that it doesn't only buy this Hollywood exec a new yacht, but also makes a whole industry work. Telling your public they're going to jail for copying their content just isn't creating any sympathy, telling them a lot of ordinary people are being paid by their money might do a better job.
And last but not least... the most time proven concept of them all: Create better movies! You know, if you create movies people actually want to see, chances are they're actually willing to pay for it .
* If you Google a bit, you'll find that this formula of carbonated sugary water (potentially) leaked out in some forms over the years and it's essentially all just shiny marketing... but still, it works.
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