Official study shows piracy doesn't affect movie box office

[m52nickerson]

Look, Nick.  We're not saying that pirates are justified.  No one is saying that.

We're just saying that none of the methods the industry is using to curb it are reasonable, especially since methods that would actually solve the problem are available to them.

I understand no one in this thread is saying they are justified.  You have to understand that others use that same arguments to try and justify piracy.   People on this forum have tried to argue, in the past, that if content was not available to them piracy was justified.  So it happens.

Yes, that latest round of legislative initiatives were ridiculous.  Just telling the industry, "change and it will go away" is not going to work.  As I said even if you show that piracy is not costing the industry revenue they will still want to stop it.   

[m52nickerson]

...I'm fairly certain porn has proved that the internet can be profitable. Nevermind, you know, eBay, Amazon, NetFlix, Steam...

Yes it has, and you can watch movies through those media.  The difference is that right now the industry still makes big bucks through first releasing movies to theaters.  Until it can be shown that releasing movies through those services as well as theaters can be as profitable the industry is going continue to fight.   

[Lithp]

You have to understand that others use that same arguments to try and justify piracy.

And you have to understand that it doesn't matter. That's a different argument entirely. In this thread, I am not making any sort of value judgment on piracy, & neither is anyone else. Which makes this whole line of discussion a red herring. Just because it sometimes happens, that does not make it relevent at the moment.

Until it can be shown that releasing movies through those services as well as theaters can be as profitable the industry is going continue to fight.

To borrow a phrase from you, just because they're going to do it doesn't mean they should.

[N. De Plume]

Until it can be shown that releasing movies through those services as well as theaters can be as profitable the industry is going continue to fight.   

Why must other people show them how it can be profitable. Why can they not try and experiment on their own a little bit? Why must they wait for someone else to be the innovator?

[Yaezakura]

...I'm fairly certain porn has proved that the internet can be profitable. Nevermind, you know, eBay, Amazon, NetFlix, Steam...

Yes it has, and you can watch movies through those media.  The difference is that right now the industry still makes big bucks through first releasing movies to theaters.  Until it can be shown that releasing movies through those services as well as theaters can be as profitable the industry is going continue to fight.   

Uh... it's been shown that piracy has no noticeable effect on US box office totals. What does have an effect is how long it takes them to then take those movies overseas. People don't want to wait another six months after the US release to see a movie when the pirates can have it for them the next day, if not earlier.

What the industry seems to be failing to consider is that the world is much more of a global community now than it was 20 years ago. Any news that happens anywhere in the world can be read about anywhere else in the world pretty much instantly. It's no longer the case that a major Hollywood production isn't heard about on foreign soil before it's released there--they hear about it as soon as we do, yet face longer waits. This is what promotes the piracy. And it's entirely within their power to rectify.

[m52nickerson]

Uh... it's been shown that piracy has no noticeable effect on US box office totals. What does have an effect is how long it takes them to then take those movies overseas. People don't want to wait another six months after the US release to see a movie when the pirates can have it for them the next day, if not earlier.

All those studies rely on taking people at their word that they would not have paid to see the movie in the theater regardless of if they could down load it.  The industry is not going to believe that to be entirely true.  Plus they will argue that with downloads available it limits their ability to attract more people. 

What the industry seems to be failing to consider is that the world is much more of a global community now than it was 20 years ago. Any news that happens anywhere in the world can be read about anywhere else in the world pretty much instantly. It's no longer the case that a major Hollywood production isn't heard about on foreign soil before it's released there--they hear about it as soon as we do, yet face longer waits. This is what promotes the piracy. And it's entirely within their power to rectify.

It also will cost the industry and theaters money.  Right now only a small percentage of theaters use digital media.  Most still rely on film.  It cost the industry money to make more prints and it cost theaters money to change to digital.

[sandman]

I would have been surprised if piracy had really impacted box office numbers. People who like movies like to see them on the big screen, with the big sound, not a shaky, ill-framed, hand-filmed pirate bootleg on their computer screen. If you're willing to watch it that way, you probably didn't care enough to have ever bought a ticket anyway.

But a lot of movies are so insanely expensive to make these days that a studio utterly depends on DVD sales to make a profit; the box office often isn't enough to cover production costs even with a successful theatrical run. And post-release piracy, with illegally uploaded copies of the commercially produced DVDs, DOES severely impact the studio, because people will download a pirated copy instead of buying it if it's the same quality.

[N. De Plume]

So, what we really need to study is the extent to which online piracy affects home-video sales. Whether that is DVD, Blu-Ray, or online digital.

[Da Rat Bastid]

Feeling that brute force methods work better than trying to adapt to the new form of media?

First the industry has to be shown that the new media can be profitable.  VHS and later DVDs did not catch on until the Porn industry showed the industry that they could in fact make money that way. 

...I'm fairly certain porn has proved that the internet can be profitable. Nevermind, you know, eBay, Amazon, NetFlix, Steam...

Why you think the 'Net was born?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc</a>

PORN, PORN, PORN!

[Sylvana]

So, what we really need to study is the extent to which online piracy affects home-video sales. Whether that is DVD, Blu-Ray, or online digital.

I think here lies the actual problem. Piracy does not affect box office profits as the study shows, However, it completely slaughters the DVD home video sales. I would also like to point out that the delay in release of movies internationally is part of the cause of DVD piracy, or if not cause they are related. With the delay regarding international releases DVD releases in America generally happen a few weeks after a movie comes out on the cinema in a foreign country. As such, DVD quality pirated vids of current movies are available in those countries at the time or shortly after the movies release in those countries.

If the companies chose instead to do global releases, piracy would have a smaller market. During the period of a movie being on the cinema only shaky hand cams would be available to the pirates. Similarly the time it takes to go on DVD globally would also allow for the initial hype to wind down and encourage people to buy the DVDs.

[StallChaser]

Plus they will argue that with downloads available it limits their ability to attract more people. 

How exactly will more availability and expanding the number of people who can buy reduce the number of buyers?  If I open an online store, is it possible to attract a negative number of customers?

It also will cost the industry and theaters money.  Right now only a small percentage of theaters use digital media.  Most still rely on film.  It cost the industry money to make more prints and it cost theaters money to change to digital.

How does getting theaters to change to a digital format have anything to do with selling digital copies online?  It's not like it's hard to digitize film and sell it online without forcing all the theaters to convert.  Unless you deny the existence of DVDs (a digital format), you can't really argue that point.