Just in case you had’nt heard, on the eve of April Fools Day a workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine found its way to the internet and hundreds of thousands of downloads occurred before 20th Century Fox could stop it. Though at first one might think “So what?” – there’s more at stake than just having a flick run free on the internet prior to its official release date.
When I first saw this, I held back. It was April Fool’s day. But as the hours passed, so did the proof that this was indeed real.
I shook my head in disbelief.
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How Can A Movie Get Leaked?
Does that really matter? There are so many different people that handle a DVD of a movie in post-production before it hits the theaters, it’s amazing we don’t see this more often.
With the number of folk who have access to a post-production version of a movie, when do the necessary additional security measures kick in that studios may have to take? Will those measures cost us, the fan, more in the end?
Sure we might grumble at the studios, but who is really to blame?
Have You Thought About the Little Guy?
I suppose that for some, the idea of seeing a movie before it’s actually released to the public is some sort of thrill (or something). While these folks gloat about having seen a film early (and illegally), I’m sure they don’t think about the impact their cumulative actions have on others.
The “others” are those people who put in 10 to 14 hour days over the course of a couple of years creating a movie. The “others” are also the second tier people who depend on a film to be released for their livelihoods… Movie theater owners/employees, for example.
For all these people, an advance pirate copy that makes it online dilutes the hard work they’ve put into something, and takes away from the “event” status of a big blockbuster release date. A release date that has had many countless hours of effort put towards deciding how to best present the culmination of all that hard work.
As this travesty went viral, Twitter.com was aflame with people stating that the Wolverine movie had found its way to the internet.
Some cheered at the travesty thrust upon Fox. I get where you’re coming from. Fox sure doesn’t have the best track record in how they’ve handled some franchises or other matters. But if you think this through, it’s just not Fox that gets hurt. It’s shameful to ponder the idea that we might really wish harm on a person’s livelihood.
So the buzz lit up big time.
Shortly thereafter folks were out there boasting about having grabbed some popcorn and sitting down to watch their newly stolen digital media.
Yes… I Said Stolen
If you go to the trouble of hunting down what you know is an illegal copy of the film, you knowingly stole it. And don’t tell me you didn’t know. To add insult to thievery, some of you were stupid enough to brag about it on various social networking sites. Good for you! Now at least if Fox and the FBI decide to pursue this legal issue to that level, you’ve made it very easy for them to find you. Even if you didn’t brag about it, you left a digital trail to the torrent files and subsequent activity is clear as day to the packet sniffers.
As it stands, the copy of the film that made its way online did not have the majority of its visual effects complete, had missing scenes and a temporary audio/music track. So I’m sure that made for an AWESOME viewing experience.
Some Actually Posted Reviews
To further implicate yourselves, you then thought you would be super cool and leave your reviews and opinions on what you saw on various bulletin boards and websites. Most website admins removed your misbegotten opinions, choosing instead to take the high road regarding this scenario. Good for them.
Fox stated in a press release on April 1st that the FBI and the MPAA are actively investigating this crime and that:
“The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Oh yes. This little stunt can lead to some jail time. I have a feeling someone may find themselves with some new best friends fairly soon.
When All Is Said And Done
It seems that it may be pretty easy to track down who did this. Maybe instead of firing him or her, the studio should garnish their wages for all eternity for profits lost.
If you think it really doesn’t hurt studios, think of this: Eli Roth didn’t release Hostel: Part II in Mexico because it was already leaked there and you could buy it for twenty-five cents. What was the point of opening there then?
You think that if you alone “stole” a movie, who would it hurt? It adds up. One of my favorite examples of adding up is an article I wrote about saving electricity. If every light switch wielding person (estimated 211 million – it’s just a ball park for this example) in the U.S. left a light bulb burning in an empty room for only 5 minutes, as a collective, that adds up to around 2,000 years of wasted energy. It all adds up and we can make a difference.
In closing, Fox said this:
“We are encouraged by the support of fansites condemning piracy and this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors and, above all, hurts fans of the film”
We at Screen Rant will never support this kind of behavior and we will not tolerate anyone posting their own review or experience in the comments.
‘Nuff said?
Source: BBC News
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323 Comments
Charels Darwin-
I totally disagree – changing formats due to changing technology is not ripping anyone off (if that is what you are implying). That’s your choice to adopt the new format or not. If you wanna be an early adopter of a technology, you’ll pay more for it. Likewise, if you wanna see a movie when it is first released – you go to the theater.
On that note, I wonder how much movie theaters would suffer if DVDs and downloads were released in conjuction with the theater release. It would tell much about how much the theater experience means, which, for me for one, isn’t much except the big budget action flicks. But that exclusivity, making the early viewer pay to see it in the theater, is a valid marketing technique. Anyone getting around that by downloading is doing so illegally and the owner has the right to seek damages.
FOX has every right to go after whoever released it. Not for the settlement but to protect their property.
Charles Darwin, you’re right, it’s not right for them to make money off their product. It’s not like it’s a business and they need to earn a profit or anything. It’s ok for you to hate them because they were more successful, came up with a business model that worked, and made more money than you. That’s why Socialism is the best, because giving people motivation to come up with new innovations and to better themselves are for capitalist wimps. Psshhh, a garbage collector with no education should make the same as a doctor with 12 long hard years of education and training. I mean, what better way to motivate someone to come up with new and great ideas and to work hard than by telling them they still won’t get more in return than the guy that sleeps all day living next door? [/sarcasm]
Yes record companies make money off consumers every time they come up with new technologies. Yes movie studios make a big profit normally despite these things. But they will never, nor should they be expected to, consistently take a loss due to this. So even if they make a profit, if their profit margin dips, the salaries of those working for them will dip to compensate for it. So while they won’t be going out of business anytime soon from us stealing their stuff, it does hurt the “little guys.” Say what you will about them lowering the salaries and cutting jobs instead of taking a hit in their profits, that’s what they are in it for, and they have the right to do it.
Like I’ve said, if you’re selling something, is it right for someone to steal it if they think the terms of your sale to be unreasonable? It’s not up to the consumer, it’s up to the ones controlling the rights to the product in demand. Too bad, get used to it.
doh @ spam filter!
this is inhuman! the billionares have lost a pretty penny! now they cant get a soild gold car! i weep for them the poor people who right now are sitting on their butts crying like little b*tches because they lost maybe a $1000 on am crappy movie not even worth that because they raped Deadpool!how sad!
These comments attempting to justify piracy are just plain sad. Conspiracies, forcing new technology on people, how dare they make money for their work, we pirates are fighting for the consumers, it’s ok everyone does it, etc. WTF? Like I said before, theft is theft and sadly these people have NO common sense. Or if in fact they do, they refuse to use it. For those people I have to ask, can I come to your house and take all of your stuff? Even the stuff which doesn’t really belong to you since it’s pirated material? Then you can go to work and send me your paycheck every week as well. Those greedy people in the entertainment business who are supplying us with the entertainment don’t deserve to be paid so why should you? Or are you just as greedy as they are? Oh yeah and I can totaly expect you to go to the movies or rent/buy the dvd IF you in fact enjoyed the movie you didn’t pay to see. Which you claim you never would pay to see in the first place, yet felt compelled enough to download it and then watch it just to SEE if it’s worth YOUR money. That makes total sense. As the cool internet lingo goes. That is total, “/fail”.
I think people should be allowed to pay for the viewing of a movie after it is over. That way only quality movies would get sequels. — X MEN 3 ~~ INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL BRAINDEAD LUCAS — SUPERMAN RETURNS AS A DEADBEAT DAD — I wish I could get my money back.
Mandarr, they are freedom fighters! LMAO!!
Rorscach if i spelled correctly that is… Said it best… A rated pg 13 killing machine… Stan lee should pimp slap everybody that worked on that just for the disrespect and utter shame that brings upon such an awesome comic book character. I wouldnt even take a free blu-rAy version of this movie handed to me by the director himself.
oh and by the way… Everybody is saying the same thing over and over again. Its… Illegal period. Just go back to attacking each other… That was more fun to read. Just wanted to say what up vic… And wish i had seen this site much eArliar. Best site to spend time on while bored at work.
I for one believe there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Meaning I wouldn’t put it past FOX to have purposely released this leak. Why not? They get tons of buzz and hype, worth it right there.. Not to mention they get to refine the movie on the many reviews. Also if this was planned they could quite easily be able to add some great plot twists and changes that would make even more buzz and force everyone who watched the leak to see the final version.. From my point of view a large majority of people watching the leak are people who are fans of action movies and comics to say the least, and would be very intrigued to watch a new cool plot twist in the movie. If this is the case It’s pretty smart..
If the final version has some serious new plot twist or cool change than my theory is correct…
p.s. I’d like to give more money to the theater but I’m taxed enough tyvm. Maybe if more actually artists produced movies for arts sake I’d love to give them my money, but the reality is not so.
Independent movies are most often better anyways. With much less greed in the cycle of creation.
I have just finished watching this movie I wondered what was going on when I saw strings and cg going on. Then I found its a good quality copy of an unfinished film. I enjoyed the film and will go to see in the cinema too also more than likely get the dvd when released.
There seems to be 2 distinct lines of thought occurring here.
1. The principles/ethics/legality of Copyright Theft
and
2. The prospect of someone getting (to see) something for free.
With regard to Copyright Theft issues specifically to pre-release films, I feel the blame has to fall entirely on the individual who leaked Wolverine, and also on the fortunate individuals who are so respected in the film industry that they are given DVDs for Awards Consideration FOR FREE – and still they leak them onto the net.
As unpleasant and opportunistic as it seems, it is simply supply and demand. If these weren’t available they would be downloaded. I’m not justifying the downloaders, but the vitriol should be primarily aimed at the source of the leak.
As for the “seeing something for free” issue, and thereby stealing bread out of the mouths of these poor hardworking individuals and their families – Oh please. Everyone except the ALL POWERFUL CORPORATIONS would have been paid upfront, anyway so, directly, the “stealing from the little man” argument, doesn’t work.
If I missed an entire season of a TV show (or a movie shown on TV). I could have recorded it off the TV for free, but didn’t. Now legally, re-runs aside, the only way I can watch it is to rent or buy the DVD. So I download it. Is this really any more unethical than recording it off the TV. The company is still losing out on the DVD sale but had I not missed the show, they would have missed out on it anyway.
Another hypothetical. 5 friends don’t go and see Wolverine at the cinema. instead they wait for the DVD. 1 buys it and they all watch it. That is potentially 5 cinema tickets and 4 DVD sales that the studio has lost out on. Those individuals have still seen the film and benefitted from the entertained they derived from it without paying their due to these industry hard-workers. How is this less unethical. They’ve still had something for nothing – so by the rationale displayed above, these are also THIEVES!.
I am of the mind that the majority of downloaders are either opportunistic individuals who generally would not pay to see a film anyway, or genuine film fans and fanboys who probably will see the completed film at the cinema, and buy it on Blu-Ray when it comes out; basically those that finance the entire movie industry as much as the (slightly-holier-than-thou) law-abiding citizens among you. .
The pirates that download movies to burn multiple copies and sell them to IDIOTS who don’t know better, or the ones who really put the effort in the disc-art and DVD covers to deceive buyers sell them off as original; now, those should be dragged out and “American History X-ed” on a kerb.
And Vic, Hi, my first post here. Love the site, but dude, the date-rape thing – way harsh. “Junkie” would have been a better analogy. That would also mirror my “supply and demand” reference earlier: If all the drug dealers were removed (killed), there would be no drugs for them to take.
I’m no junkie sympathizer, but, like I said, for the root of the problem, blame the source.
Spider-Mulder: great post and perspective..
It is not illegal to download movies or music, which is why the statement from Fox says “The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” See even they know that you can only get in trouble for posting or uploading. Nothing can be done about downloading. Now of course the person(s) you are dowloading from are breaking the law but hey that’s on them. Sort of like going to a sports bar and watching a blackouted NFL game. The bar owner is fined but not the people watching it for the exact same reason.
The car anaolgy is driving (no pun intended) me insane. The trailer to a movie is not the same as test driving a car. Trailers are to movies as commercials are to cars. These are two different industries and can not be put together just to attempt to make your point. BUT, if you insist on comparing one to the other then I say we implement a “MOVIE LEMON LAW” just like with cars. If somethign liek that was to happen where you could receive your money back for an absolute wretched film, then people might stop downloading. Also, Uwe Bolle would quit attempting to make films. (Two birds with one stone.)
The term pirate is not even factually correct. A pirate is one who pillages and plunders by force to take somethign that is not theirs. Pretty sure no one downloading a film falls into that catergory.
Hulu has a great concept and could easily be turned into PPV movie release system. The movies are streamed and cannot be recorded or saved so just like the theaters, you pay for one viewing you get one viewing. I like most people in the USA now, have a very nice home theater system and actually prefer that to the theater experience.
How many people over 30 on this thread would actually download a movie illegally?
How many people under 30 would actually download an illegal movie?
Simple questions but I’m willing to bet most people regardless of age if they have financial stability in their lives would pay for services rendered. Moral ambiguiity is only a joke here. Those who just take it because they can are either warped by some callous sense of entitlement or just too cheap to pay for something they have used.
@ Spider-Mulder
“Another hypothetical. 5 friends don’t go and see Wolverine at the cinema. instead they wait for the DVD. 1 buys it and they all watch it. That is potentially 5 cinema tickets and 4 DVD sales that the studio has lost out on. Those individuals have still seen the film and benefitted from the entertained they derived from it without paying their due to these industry hard-workers. How is this less unethical. They’ve still had something for nothing – so by the rationale displayed above, these are also THIEVES!.”
The difference dude is that someone paid for the rental so the company is compensated for useage of it’s product. It’s the same with PPV. If I want to have five friends over to watch a new release or the next UFC PPV then at the very least it was paid for and the company recieved payment for a service provided. Copying of material provides no compensation.
Listen. I saw The Dark Knight in theaters four times. I also saw it a dozen times in various bootlegs. I then proceeded to buy both the dvd and the bluray of the film. Those of us who go out of our way to see bootlegs of movies are they very same people who spend 2500 dollars annually on movie tickets and dvds. Not ALL of us, I’m quite sure, but the majority. The fact that in the ten years since pirating became mainstream, movie and dvd sales have gone UP kind of indicates that. I would never sell or buy anything pirated, but if I have opportunity to watch something I love, I’m going to do it whether I have to pay for it or not. You need only look at my own finances to see that.
When you live outside Usa, and movies comes to the theater 6 motnhs after us release, it might tempt people to download a dvd rip, 2 months before it hits the cinema in their contry- there is no way for them to see it legally when people in us get to see it.
- why anyone would want to se a workprint I do not get.
-The only way this pirtate workprint will affect the boxoffice is if it gets a bad rep before it hits the cinema.
-Lots of bad movies make allot of money the fisrst weeks before people get to tell their friends not to see it. When bad films are leaked, I believe that it can affect the box office…
Everyone who supports piracy listen up.Piracy is stealing and stealing is wrong,period.I don’t care how you twist that old dogs tail,it’s just not going to hunt.
@Vic
Just to add another analogy to the discussion to prove that piracy is wrong.A few years ago I saw on TV were an armored Car was in an accident and their was some cash money that found its way onto the street.Some people stopped by and helped themselves to the”free”cash that was in the road.Later on the cops tracked down some of those who took the money and told them they had to either give the money back or face arrest.Whats the difference between those who took the money and those who pirate material on the Internet?I say nothing what so ever.They all took something that did not belong to them and that’s wrong,period.
BTW,the folks over at WB must be getting a good chuckle out of this,after what happened with them and Fox over the Watchmen.
Sometimes, if you’re paying attention, you discover an opportunity that everyone else seems to have missed.
There is a very little company that 20th Century Fox uses to encode each frame of each distributed copy of their films with the information on who was given a particular copy. This way, when a film ends up on the internet, they have some idea where to start looking for the thief. The thief is probably not the person or company whose name is embedded in the video but someone who had access to that copy. This is why the FBI is involved. They have something to go on.
Now if you are a betting man/woman, where do you think this companies stock value is going?
Stop downloading movies and play a new game.
http://www.usvo.com/news/news_209.htm
Yah Roland, the same argument Daniel gave. Yep, based on your scientific empirical research you’ve come to the conclusion that the majority of people who download pirated movies are the ones spending a lot of money legally in the industry. Yep, I’m sure you’ve surveyed 10,000 randomly selected individuals to come to that conclusion instead of simply assuming people are like you so you can feel better about your own actions. Yep…
Vic, I had seen your analogy yesterday and very nearly made a response about it, if I hadn’t been already on the way out to head out to town. Now I see it was unnecessary, so I won’t beat you over the head with any more remarks about it…
I understand your being morally outraged, though. I was pretty angry, too. (Doubly angry when I found out that the Deadpool character had indeed been – not to overuse the term here too much – raped, something we had already started to suspect ever since the horrible toy hit the internet and the laughable movie script was also leaked.)
But what it comes down to, I think, is that Fox basically screwed up BOTH with their security and with their efforts into making this movie – so the fault can be said to be all theirs in this case, regardless of whoever leaked it, and certainly not with the people who slavishly wanted to see it ahead of time. To use another extreme analogy, a movie company should treat their product a little bit like any country would its national secrets – nuclear weapon plans, for example. Because if they get out, there’s nothing that can be done about it. Sure, it’s stolen. But you can’t blame other countries for wanting it no matter what. No use puttin’ them on trial for what was your own fault to begin with.
So I don’t think the answer is in trying to shake down everybody that had seen the movie for free and threatening to throw them all into jail. The problem lies in avoiding this kind of leak again, and I might add, also getting a better writer. It certainly doesn’t help that they seem to have taken the movie into a negative creative direction. Basically, Fox screwed up on this movie big time from what I can tell by hearsay – either on purpose or not, it doesn’t really matter.
I mean, even if I had seen LoTR ahead of its release date, I would have seen it in theaters anyway because it was THAT good. If the product isn’t good enough that it doesn’t cause a buzz that makes people want to see it on the silver screen multiple times, then it probably would have failed anyway.
Word of mouth goes a long way. Whether people like a movie or not, it will persuade others to see the movie at the theater. If they don’t, the opposite is true. And if I don’t know anybody who has seen a particular movie that I want to see, I usually go by reading reviews, such as Vic’s reviews, and others elsewhere. I avoided, for instance, watching Aliens vs Predator 2 even though I was a big fan of both, due to reading Vic’s review. Knowing ahead one month or not, it doesn’t matter. I probably wouldn’t have seen this movie. I rely on my friends to tell me whether movies are worthwhile seeing or not. This clearly isn’t one of these cases that they would have told me to go.
And personally, I’m glad I found out one month sooner than usual instead of having my excitement built up over one month only to be colossally disappointed in the end. Yes, I know there’s still a few more reshoots planned, but from what I’m told, the script is very flawed anyway.
Whether we hear some negativity because the movie had been downloaded illegally one month in advance or it’s the week after the movie has hit the theaters, the movie isn’t going to make money either way.
Theft is theft, I agree with you guys. But right now, I’m more upset that the movie isn’t going to live up to expectations than anything else. And my anger lies mostly with Fox. Can’t help it. And I doubt there’s anything that can be done about this particular case of theft except ensuring that it doesn’t happen again by incorporating better security measures next time.
And in the age of the internet and movie sites that religiously post up any spoileristic photographs and articles concerning the making of any movie in progress, that’s probably in the near-impossible category nowadays. Unless, of course, we impose a facist/dictatorial regime of some kind. Which I certainly wouldn’t want to see happen.
…I think that’s all my thoughts right now.
i see a lot of, why would you want to see a workprint? and enjoy your unfinished movie…type thing.
i’d like to watch a work print because im a nerd and am totaly into watching my favorate characters ahead of time. same reason i like crappy special features and making of stuff. its fun for me, and i’m sure others must feel the same way. also it’s not unwatchable just because it’s a work print.
@ Phil, if someone steals your car, is it your fault you didn’t make it magically criminal proof? You realize that there’s no way to 100% prevent someone from stealing your car, breaking into you home, stealing nuclear fission material, nuclear warheads, chemical weapons, movie prints, etc. etc. If someone is determined enough they will get it. Or in this case, if you have someone on the “inside” working against you, there’s really no way for a large company to guarantee that nobody working for them will stab them in the back.
And I’d hate to risk stirring anything up because whenever you mention a crime that involves a victim, there will always be somebody here who has been a victim or knows someone who has been a victim etc, but your mentality can be [wrongfully] applied to just about any crime. It was the murdered victim’s fault he/she was out late at night, it was the victim’s fault she had money in her purse that got stolen. It was the victim’s fault he was beat up because he didn’t learn how to defend himself or because he went into a nightclub where drunken brawls were known to happen.
Defense lawyers all too often try to demonize the victim, as if it’s the victim’s fault the criminal did what he/she did, and I absolutely DESPISE that kind of mentality.
The bottom line is, the people who steal movies, who illegally download movies, are wrong. Just because it’s out there and you can find it doesn’t mean you’re REQUIRED to download it. It is your choice whether or not you want to do something illegal or not.
I’ve found lost wallets, on two occassions, and both times, I didn’t take a single dollar out of it. The only time I opened them was to see if there was Id in there so I’ll know how to contact the owner.
I’m sure if someone else would have found either one of them, the cash would be gone and maybe even the credit cards might have been used. You would jump all over the people who lost their wallets that it is their fault they accidentally dropped their wallets wouldn’t you? Sure you can say from your perspective that they should have taken more care in retaining their belongings. I believe that too, I’m a firm believer of personal security, but everyone’s human, mistakes happen, doesn’t mean you have to blame the victim for what happened.
remember napster? remember how mad everyone was about music being “stolen”? remember how they tried to stop it?
guess what, now it’s video’s turn.
and it cant and wont be stopped.
don’t waste time and money like you did last time, just embrace it
Yes, embrace not getting any money for you movies. It’ll be the new thing, charity movie productions…
@Ken J
Exactly. I just love the “the tech makes it possible so it’s OK.” I guess if some easy electronic way of stealing any car in a parking lot became available then THAT would be OK, too.
@busy
Right, brilliant analogy. They DID stop it, didn’t they? Sure, everyone downloads music now, but they PAY for it (as they should).
Vic
I’m a big big X-men fan so I will definetly see it opening day…I wouldent want to see a bootleg if it was only half way finished. I know as a soldier bootlegging is a huge problem in Iraq…sometimes we know how a movie ends before our buddies in the states. but i also know that we would never get to see any movies untill we got home if it wasnt for bootlegs…its both good and bad.
MarcusFenix09:
That’s a great real world scenario example. Come to think of it, you shouldn’t have to bootleg anything.
If you’re serving active duty, the studios should be going out of their way to send you guys pre-release versions of their movies. Show some damn gratitude.
Oh – Love the Avatar!
According To NikkiFinke Roger Friedman who posted a review of the unfinished Wolverine print in his Fox411collumn at Fox news.com has been FIRED.
Itt doesnt sound like it was just about the review though.
he talked in his column about it was easier to download these movies then “going out in the rain.”
He also talked about he was considering Downloading I Love you Man later this week.
DUMB.
The issue of piracy is not cut-and-dry. To subscribe to but one side of the argument is ignorant and will prohibit you from fully understanding the issue. Unfortunately, proponents of both approaches fail to acknowledge the validity of the other’s perspective.
I say there are two kinds of pirates: A-type, doesn’t matter how good movies are, they will download them because it is easy and they are cheapskates. They are also cowards in that they will steal ‘digitally’ because all it takes is a click of a mouse but they definitely won’t walk up to a big guy on the street and try to take his DVD. In essence, they don’t have a moral perspective about it. They are just freeloading weasels who care nothing for the wellbeing of others, especially the people who worked so hard to make the movie. They only care about themselves and while talk about how horrible movies are: They download them and watch them, while they denounce the entire theater system, they sit in front of their computers watching low-quality bootlegs alone, or maybe with some loser buddies who also can’t find a girl that wants to go with them to the ‘stupid’ movie theater.
The B-Types are the ones whom I say at least have a point. They are the ones who wish film studios would stop beguiling are expectations with vile excuses for cinema and feel that they are taking action. Perhaps they hope that boycotting films or previewing them before they pay to watch them at the theater is saving them hard earned money that they can spend on quality productions that deserve it. Iron Man anyone? The Dark Knight, Incredible Hulk? Man, 2008 was a good year.
* Morally wrong? Yes, you are acquiring a pirated copy of film. It is stealing in a sense that it has not been officially released but to what extreme? I would say to anyone who views watching a pirated film as being just as morally wrong as snatching some lady’s purse, ignore my post, don’t comment and look up extremist ideologies because that is what you have.
Anyone that says: “I don’t care, stealing is stealing is stealing” — is biased and you have a much clouded view of reality. And in reality I mean the real world. In your ‘utopian view’ is ’stealing’ never acceptable? And to what end is this considered absolutely wrong? I highly doubt you are considering the global sociopolitical variables that effect society. These variables make ideological stances on issues such as this inadequate. It is easy for you, whoever you are, the United Sates citizen, living in one of, if not the fattest, laziest, most wasteful albeit monetarily plentiful economies in the global community to say that any and all forms of stealing are ‘wrong’ and should not go unpunished. Do you really think that is you were born in a Third World country it would be realistic to acquire the same absolutist stance?
However, film is a rare art form, rarely respected or acknowledged for what it is. The problem lies in that it is a multimedia product and the quality that consumers demand, in general is high. A lot of naïve people say things like “That’s not art”. That’s simply an uneducated mass mentality. We are not in the Middle Ages, painting and sculptors are not the only artists. As tools to utilize the creative capacity of human beings have advanced, so too have our different methods of producing art. It is often those with no artistic ability that fail to recognize it in others.
The common ‘good’ movie requires a great many talented contributions from a team of artists before it can be manifested in a “theater near you”. Many of these people are not highly-paid. A lot of them live from film to film in an attempt to create a reputation for themselves so that maybe they can amass some kind of steady income stream. These people, who can make decent money but also very little, give minutes, hours, days, months or even years to a film project and – why they don’t depend on the box office sales directly – they depend on the livelihood of the Motion Picture Industry to have any kind of career.
The Entertainment Media Business creates and markets multimedia, which takes both art and consumerism to exist. Without an established business model, or, for you anarchists out there, the ‘evil’ studio system: artists would not be able to collaborate, and combine their complementary talents and efforts to the effect that is necessary to break even financially when realizing a multi-million dollar film from inception all the way through production and distribution. Movie studios are necessary if film is to be a business and high-quality productions are expected. Every industry has corrupt, greedy rats and snakes. Every industry has politics – this is the mixed market economy that we live in. That doesn’t make it ‘right’ to steal products.
And, anyone who researches the topic (as I did for school) can tell you that Movie Theaters are not to blame for ‘inflated’ prices. In fact, Theatres make a very minuscule profit in respect to Box Office figures. And I hear a lot of people complaining about lack of innovation from Entertainment Venues. Well to that I say: IMAX? 3-D? IMAX 3-D? Yes, it is very easy to enjoy a film at home nowadays with superior sound and picture quality but I saw The Dark Knight twice in IMAX and no subsequent viewing has ever moderately compared. IMAX and 3-D are here, they are being developed and the technologies employed. Be reasonable, the Studios aren’t going to pay for Theaters to reequip their screening rooms, this takes time and technology has jumped far ahead of where many expected us to be at this point. Case-in-point: sure the Theaters, if they can find the funds, can equip a bunch of screen with revolutionary innovative technology but that is ill-advised if there is not a string volume of films being released for those screens. Likewise the industry can produce a bunch of films using breathtaking motion capture techniques but if there is nowhere to screen them, it makes no sense.
But we are getting there. IMAX is largely becoming common and 3-D is perhaps becoming viable…. More viable then My Bloody Valentine 3-D. : ( It can’t happen overnight. Iron Man 2 is coming, Avatar and the like is coming!
The theater-going experience is subjective; some enjoy the entire social experience: maybe some dinner before the film with a date/some friends, the atmosphere of anticipation from the crowd, a snack or drink if you choose, the energy of the audience whenever a great movie enthralls you and the subsequent critiquing afterward. (In both Iron Man and The Dark Knight, the audience’s energy was part of the experience and that is something that can never be translated to a pirated copy).
Others prefer to download unfinished work-prints of a film and criticize it from their computer. Well, to each his own but the Movie Theater is a business and they have the right to charge for their service. You have the right to not buy but that doesn’t give you the right to steal.
If the home viewing of cinema is your forte than purchase the DVD when it gets released. Since you are so certain that it is crap, why can’t you wait that long – unless of course you are too cheap for that as well. If you can’t afford to buy a previously-viewed copy of a new release at Blockbuster for $4.99-$12.99 or nowadays 2, 3 & 4 for $20.00!! : ) – It would be advisable to spend your time more productively i.e. instead of surfing for pirated copies of movies, find a purpose in life, work towards a better education and a career path that will allow you the financial capability to purchase products that you want.
If you acknowledge that filmmaking takes talent and that for every dozen poorly crafted films that are released, there is at least one that had a point, how can you justify stealing from the men and women that make these films possible? Without crews, technicians, VFX artists, Foley, Grips, Cinematographers’, Stunt coordinators etc. etc. ad infinitum – the Big Business couldn’t remain successful and when you hurt the giant you hurt the small guy.
Yeah, there sure are plenty of people paid ridiculous salaries in the Entertainment Industry. “Name” people make the big bucks, some really talented, some not – but how does that justify piracy?
Film is ultimately a product and we the consumer have the right to demand quality. And more often then not, we don’t get that quality and we are extremely mislead or defrauded by companies creating alluring and intriguing previews that are nothing like the actual movie. 10,000 B.C. anyone? Indiana Jones 4? Spider-Man 3? X-Men 3? Okay, Okay, I’m done.
You may look at it like: “Oh who cares, Fox is rich, I’m not even making a difference” and to Fox’s corporate executives, you may not be but to Joe Schmo who worked in the Art Department, the cumulative effects of piracy may impact him directly when the next production he was slated to work on is cancelled while Fox readjusts their budget for the fiscal year to make up for lost profits.
And let’s be real, if a pirated film is downloaded 100,000 times that is going to impact Box Office sales, there is no way to analyze the effects directly but it has an effect nonetheless.
At best, the issue of piracy and its effects on the industry as well as the morality of it is underdeveloped either way.
Consumers deserve to get what they pay for, $12.00 should warrant a quality movie going experience but it doesn’t necessarily. Why should we continue to pay for theater viewings of films when we more often than not fall victim to false advertisement.
The car analogy is primitive. When you purchase a vehicle, you are at fault for not buying one with a warranty. Furthermore, many reputable dealers have a 30-90 day money back guarantee on vehicles. Similarly, at any reputable store, if you purchase a product that does not do what it advertises satisfactorily you can usually return it for a refund, exchange or credit. The problem with film is that it is art and what constitutes good art is subjective.
There is no solution to digital piracy, the means required to duplicate digital work are too readily available and easy to use. However, I believe that people are inherently good and I think the majority of piracy could be eliminated if movies were better. Far-and-wide, I think many people are fed up with expectations being set high with an exciting and misleading trailer and that digital piracy is a rebellion against the studio mentality of “All we have to do is reel ‘em in…. suckers!”
It is time for a revamp of the studio, distribution and venue methods of operations but in what fashion?
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