How Should Movie Studios Stop Piracy?

Published by Jeff Leins on April 16, 2009

Piracy is the hot topic right now in the news.  With hostage situations off the shore of Somalia and the leaked copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine reaching over a million downloads, the skull and crossbones are flying higher than ever.  Since legal efforts to shut down the internet proliferation have proved futile, the question becomes:

How should the studios put an end to piracy?

Ok, we get it.  Piracy is a problem.  We’re reminded of that every time we sit through a public service announcement or wait patiently during the FBI warning.  Now what are the studios going to do about it?  What sort of ideas have they come up with besides reminding us that it’s bad?

Kudos to Miramax for trying something new recently.  When a Twitter message from a user named Amanda lamented the absence of Adventureland in a downloadable format, Miramax tweeted back, “C’mon, don’t do it.”  Surprisingly, it worked and Miramax rewarded Amanda with two free Fandango tickets to a screening for agreeing not to steal it for free.  They may have created a new deterrent for stopping criminal activity even.  “C’mon, don’t rob us” should be printed on bumped stickers and slapped to the front of every bank and convenient store.  Obviously the answer isn’t handing out freebies to anyone who intends on pirating, but at least it’s a positive reaction rather than the usual law enforcement route.

It’s time for the movie industry to learn from the music industry, which fought this same battle only years before.  Arresting teenagers and shutting down file sharing services only resulted in more users and newer, easier ways to swap mp3s.  Instead, the music industry adapted by offering cheap, legal alternatives like iTunes.  Why steal a song or an album when it costs cushion money to get it through Apple?

Slapping multi-million dollar lawsuits on torrent sites and scouring for camcorders taping the new Hannah Montana movie will have the same effect.  Right now the average computer user doesn’t know how to set up, find, or download files using torrents, which feeds off of the viral nature of the protocol.  Crackdowns on illegal usage has historically resulted only in a fresh program emerging in its place.

The studios can do the same thing as the record companies.  By offering inexpensive digital downloads, low-cost streaming video, or on-demand programming straight to your home, it diminishes the convenience excuse for snatching it off the web.  In most cases the future systems are already in place, but they just need the collective cooperation of studios or the willingness to allow day-and-date releases theatrically at the same time as on-demand.  Why waste hours downloading an illegal, poor-quality copy, when you have the option of watching it immediately at the cost of a rental?  The immediate access may even have unexpected effects, luring consumers who prefer a quiet night in or bolstering the indie film industry.

How much of a problem is piracy any way?

In 2007, the Motion Picture Association of America was embarrassed by reports that a 2005 study had made a “data entry error” and attributed 44% of domestic losses in the motion picture industry to movie piracy.  (The erroneous study was then used to secure stricter laws in Congress.)  The MPAA later admitted the actual number was closer to 15%, a three hundred percent human error in their favor that went unnoticed for two years.  Estimates from outside the crusading organization see the number as low as 3%.  So which is it?

Without concrete numbers on the amount of pirates or how much they eventually spend on films, it is difficult to pinpoint the impact.  As box office receipts continue to rise, it’s clear that gaffers and best boy grips aren’t out of work due to any global crisis.

But what about the million plus downloads of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which refueled this whole debate?  According to Entertainment Weekly, the tracking numbers are still exceptionally high and in line with usual summer blockbuster figures.  Ironically the early leak could have bought Fox heaps of free publicity for the May 1 release.  Only time will tell what sort of numbers the tentpole will put up, but the studio may be looking at an unexpected bump in sales.

In reality, the constant focus on the “profound global problem” of piracy is more of a reaffirming justification that the MPAA should even exist.  Aside from assigning arbitrary ratings to warn uneducated parents, the MPAA spends the remaining time creating useless PSAs asking people politely not to pirate.  (It doesn’t seem to be working.)

The association is made up of the “big six” studios who now dump $75 million annually into the organization’s budget.  Obviously a sizable portion of that is spent towards bringing criminal groups to justice rather than focusing their efforts on making them obsolete.  Since each of those six studios is alreadying contracting their own in-house security measures, a centralized organization may be better served unifying them towards a common goal of future development.  It’s time for the movie industry to see the Internet as more of a tool and not the enemy.