Impotent film industry makes angry noises about piracy control
The New York Times has an article about a Congressional hearing relating to the piracy of the Wolverine movie (which has now been downloaded over one million times; a Fox columnist has also been fired for having the temerity to write a review of the leaked film).
Judging from the article, the hearing was full of the proverbial “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Representative Howard Berman talked about “legislation that would ’begin to elevate the attention’ given to foreign piracy,” and Representative Dana Rohrabacher said “It’s time to bring the hammer down,” but actual suggestions or plans of action seemed to be lacking.
Steven Soderbergh, a vice president of the Directors Guild of America, suggested a plan modeled on the French “three strikes” plan in which illegal downloaders would be cut off from the Internet. He did acknowledge that getting such a law passed in the United States “is going to be tricky.”
Tricky? No doubt! The New York Times article does not mention that the European Parliament has roundly condemned the French three-strikes system, or that New Zealand’s attempt to impose such a system was met with an international “blackout” campaign that resulted in the proposed legislation being scrapped.
If the New Zealand protest was any example, an attempt to impose a similar system in the USA would be met with a huge groundswell of protest—perhaps even bigger than the New Zealand blackout. Nobody wants to risk his Internet access against the kind of false positives the RIAA’s lawsuit campaign has already generated.
Piracy is a tricky, complicated problem, and not one that lends itself to easy solutions like punishing downloaders—you end up further alienating the very people you are relying on to buy your products legitimately.
If Fox was smart, it would incorporate the piracy into its advertising campaign for the movie: “If you thought it was good on your computer, wait ‘til you see it on the big screen!” If you can’t beat them—and in this case, you can’t—you should at least try to join them.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
And Soderbergh used to be one of my favorite directors. If he really thinks this is a plausible solution to an imaginary problem, then I don’t think I’ll be purchasing any more of his films.
It amazes me that these publishers can still think that criminalizing their customers is a viable business strategy. It backfired on the music industry, and as download speeds continue to increase, it will backfire on the movie industry as well.
I would have to say that the ratio of movies I’ve paid for to those I’ve pirated is somewhere in the range of 25:1 (25 purchases to every one download). For the most part, I can afford the $15-$20 for a DVD, and am interested in supporting the efforts of people whose work I enjoy. On multiple occasions I’ve pirated a film and went on to not only purchase the DVD, but other DVDs that were done by the same director, actor, or writer.
What they need to realize is that the product they deliver needs to have value over what the consumer can download off of the Internet. At this point, it will be impossible for them to stop people from pirating, but many of those people would never be willing to pay for the content anyway. Those aren’t their customers. They need to market to people like me, who will occasionally pirate a movie, but has no problem buying a CD for extra features, better picture and sound, or just to support the creators.
I love your suggestion about using the pirated version to their advantage as a marketing tool. That’s exactly the sort of thing they should be doing.
I think a prime example of what can be done with enough creativity and willingness to explore different revenue streams is “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” The movie was released for free through Hulu. Then sold on iTunes. And eventually released on DVD with one of the most creative and entertaining commentaries I’ve ever experienced. While not every movie is capable of being successful using that same strategy, it’s interesting to note how well it worked out for Joss Whedon and company. It would do the rest of the industry to take note that by not treating your customers as criminals, even the ones who don’t pay for the product can make up for it by telling their friends, who then go on to make a purchase, or even spending more money on the next product you release.
April 8th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) blurting “It’s time to bring the hammer down” sounds as though he’s been studying his Clancy, doesn’t he?
All in a day’s work for the pro-torture blowhard.