In the Village.
In Defense of Piracy
Online piracy has been in the headlines a lot more lately. It seems that the MPAA and law enforcement agencies are taking bolder initiatives to curb the piracy of online music and movies. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again; this is a colossal mistake and to be perfectly honest a failed opportunity for them.
People are dissatisfied with the distribution of films and music. You really can’t blame them for pirating it. The systems in place for downloading, renting and streaming movies are a joke. Online is the future of film. Physical copies of movies will be obsolete within 5 years. People will either stream movies on their computers, their phones or play them directly on their televisions and I don’t think that companies realize this yet.
Have you taken a look at the selection of movies available to stream on Netflix? It’s basically a bunch of Kat Williams stand up specials. The iTunes store is really expensive, it’s $20 to download a movie and their selection is pretty pitiful. Hulu’s selection is terrible and there are commercials. VOD is a step in the right direction, it’s instant and usually cheaper, but it’s a rotating selection which is never very expansive.
The options to watch movies are fractured and imperfect. It’s really no wonder that people download them. Torrents are centralized, easy to find, fast, good quality, and have a terrific selection which is dictated by public taste and demand.
The studios go-to solution for torrent sites has thus far been to shut them down and to sue them. Even going so far as to sue people for downloading movies and music. It really just blows my mind that this practice still exists. These are millions of people yearning to consume the content you’re providing. And you think suing them is the solution?
Why not listen to them and what they want? Why not realize that we’re never going to go back to the time when the only ways to watch a movie were to see it in a theater or to buy a DVD? Why not try to be creative for once, be pliable and find a new way to work within this new landscape? Figure out new ways to monetize movies.
Sure stealing is wrong. But the reality is that it’s very, very easy to download music and movies and that’s never going to change. Companies can cry about it and desperately flail around trying to stop it through litigation, or they can smarten up and be the first to find ways to cash in.
As a filmmaker I can’t wait until the day that people are pirating my films. It means there is a huge demand for the product you’re selling. Here is this vast group of people wanting your thing, this huge opportunity, your job is to go out and try to connect with and profit from their demand. Instead, they’re treated like filthy criminals that need to be thrown in jail. It’s a brave new world of digital technology and studios are either going to have to be creative and adapt or suffer the consequences.
