is piracy really that bad?

[arcticphoenix95]

after reading an artice on this site about the hurt locker producers suing thousands of people for pirating their movie, and i thought: "really, c'mon they downloaded A MOVIE"! Back to the question, is piracy really that bad? It seems like the producers got enough money for their product. not to mention the director, actors, writers, etc. what's your opinion on piracy?

 

[Pimppeter2]

Those greedy producers

Expecting money for their product that they spent their money making.

Bastards!



Incidentally zpfanatic, would you consider mugging Bill Gates ethical?

Le snip

QFT

 

[delet]

Yes it's that bad; people work hard to create thing and that costs lots of money. If you take that stuff they worked hard and spent a lot of money on to create without paying anything you're ruining those people who worked on it.

Imagine if everyone pirated everything. No one would get money to make anything and so they'd stop making anything. Thusly, we would no longer be able to pirate everything because that everything no longer exists because we didn't give them any money because we pirated it...

 

[macuKAT]

after reading an artice on this site about the hurt locker producers suing thousands of people for pirating their movie, and i thought: "really, c'mon they downloaded A MOVIE"! Back to the question, is piracy really that bad? It seems like the producers got enough money for their product. not to mention the director, actors, writers, etc. what's your opinion on piracy?

My opinion? Your an idiot, there it is, I said it.

 

[Marter]

Piracy is taking away money from the people creating the product. It's theft, something that is illegal. So yes, piracy is bad.

 

[Irridium]

Yes piracy is bad.

I have no doubt that publishers and developers blow it way out of proportion and skewer every statistic on the subject, but yeah, it is very, very bad.

 

[cappp]

There was a similar discussion raised a little while back - my post there contained a few links that may drive your discussion in an interesting direction. I'm assuming of course that the underlying assumption is that media, be it movie or game, makes a fortune and doesn't feel the financial impact.

Perhaps someone feels charitable and will do a search on the proportion of successful products to failed launches - the logic being that companies need to capitalize on their successes to compensate for the losses made on the large number of under-performers.

I'm not going to talk about the pirating of games, because I don't know enough about the industry. I will however say this:

Avatar (2009):
Budget: 237 Million USD
Gross Revenue: 2,718 Million USD

Weep for the movie industry, I do not.

It's not as simple as that though. There's an article on Slate that explores the issue in more depth, the <url=http://www.slate.com/id/2118819>relevent portion reads:

"First, the reported "grosses" are not those of the studios but those of the movie houses. The movie houses take these sums and keep their share (or what they claim is their share)-which can amount to more than 50 percent of the original box-office total. Consider, for example, Touchstone's Gone in 60 Seconds, which had a $242 million box-office gross. From this impressive haul, the theaters kept $129.8 million and remitted the balance to Disney's distribution arm, Buena Vista. After paying mandatory trade dues to the MPAA, Buena Vista was left with $101.6 million. From this amount, it repaid the marketing expenses that had been advanced-$13 million for prints so the film could open in thousands of theatres; $10.2 million for the insurance, local taxes, custom clearances, and other logistical expenses; and $67.4 million for advertising. What remained of the nearly quarter-billion-dollar "gross" was a paltry $11 million. (And that figure does not account for the $103.3 million that Disney had paid to make the movie in the first place."

You may also find <url=http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=8359>this discussion interesting.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

It's bad yes..but is it gonna stop people from doing it? No.

 

[derdeutschmachine]

If something is worth buying I'l buy it if not I throw it out like the shit it is...

 

[MinishArcticFox]

Pirating is bad and what not it's just stealing really but as South Park put it in most cases pirating makes them buy their private jet used instead of new, and I'm not sure that it really has as bad of an effect as most people think it does.

 

[ENKC]

What is this, the banhammer invitiational? The argument that the most successful films in the world make profits, therefore piracy doesn't matter that much is just illogical in the extreme. People deserve to get what they've rightfully earned for their work.

 

[Kortney]

after reading an artice on this site about the hurt locker producers suing thousands of people for pirating their movie, and i thought: "really, c'mon they downloaded A MOVIE"! Back to the question, is piracy really that bad? It seems like the producers got enough money for their product. not to mention the director, actors, writers, etc. what's your opinion on piracy?

Would you appreciate it if people took a portion of your wage?

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Piracy = Illegal.

Piracy ==> Loss of money for those who created the product.

Piracy ==> Loss of funding for future products.

Hence, Piracy = Bad.

 

[L-J-F]

Bad? Yes, but blown out of proportion a thousand times over. I really loved that article recently about Assassin's Creed 2. Over a month to crack it, which meant that nobody could pirate it for over a month - the period of most sales. According to the publishers it should have made 10x more than other games out there, including the first. Result? Stock standard sales figures, I guess piracy isn't that big a deal anyway.

Yes piracy is bad, but can't we just forget about trying to stop it and focus on making good games? Seriously people. But I guess that goes right over the heads of most publishers, since all they know is money.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

If you're thinking of rape and pillage on the open seas, then no, it's awesome.

But if you are talking about the act of illegally downloading music and movies and other forms of data, then it actually is. I worked for a CD/DVD distribution center for one of the biggest chain suppliers, and we lost nearly 30% sales in ONE YEAR. Not all, but much of this drop can be attributed to the consistent rise of illegally downloaded media.

And look at it from the viewpoint of these companies: they spend millions of dollars putting products out, and when people steal said product, it becomes a loss for the company. The company then has less money to put towards new products, which means less jobs. Even if it's a shared download, that's someone who might have bought the movie, or music that now isn't, which means that that company is losing money.

Most people think it's perfectly fine and dandy to pirate stuff, but I'm not one of them, because I'm not so selfish.

 

[Cody211282]

Hypothetical: you work to make something. Your boss decides that you made enough money and you don't need the rest of what you should have received.

Do you:
a) Demand to be paid? Congratulations, you are a hypocrite.
b) Accept the loss and carry on oblivious? Congratulations, you are an idiot.

It is UTTERLY IRRELEVANT what YOUR opinion is on whether or not they received "enough" money. If you take money from them in some form, i.e. piracy, you are stealing.

I can't fucking stand how God damn arrogant and entitled the majority of this culture is right now.

You sir are my new hero, I have to agree with you but add that I think most kids now adays are lazy fucks who think that they should get everything for free because their parents never said no.

 

[Teshi]

I think illegal downloading is wrong, and while I don't think copyright infringement is the same thing as stealing material goods, it's definitely ripping off the people who made and distributed the product. That said, going after end-users is still a stupid strategy for companies. It doesn't reduce the distribution in any way, and it makes them look like bullies.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Those greedy producers

Expecting money for their product that they spent their money making.

Bastards!



Incidentally zpfanatic, would you consider mugging Bill Gates ethical?

After Windows Vista, I would happily go much further.

On-topic: Mostly, no. Games Producers should be rewarded by purchasing when they do well. Which is why I own Bioshock, Mass Effect, Medieval II Total War, COD4 and a host of other decent games.

However, when games companies attempt to screw people (Yes, you Ubisoft. I can see you in the corner, sending me those hookers and the complimentary, notably DRM-free XboX and copy of Assassin's Creed 2. I know what you did) then I can certainly sympathise with piracy. It may be unethical, but then again, so is DRM, so I really couldn't care if two scorpions sting each other to death. Hell, I might even bet on it.

 

[Weaver]

Piracy is taking away money from the people creating the product. It's theft, something that is illegal. So yes, piracy is bad.

It's copyright infringement.
If I here one more person call it "theft" I'm going to fucking explode.

And no, there is no argument about this. It is classified, under law in nearly every country as copyright infringement. This is like calling pigs cats, you can believe it all fucking day if you want, but you are wrong.

...

With that out of the way, don't pirate things.

 

[Rahnzan]

Like they aren't robbing us. 12 dollars for a fucking movie ticket? I can buy a movie for that price and keep it FOREVER if I wait 6 months.

12 dollars for a bowl of popcorn, 6 dollars for a god damn soda.

I can buy enough Popcorn kernels to feed a squad of starving soldiers, I can get 18 to 48 liters of soda for 6 bucks depending on where I shop.

THAT is piracy, THAT is thievery, THAT is bullshit.

I still go to the movies that deserve it, on DISCOUNT NIGHT. Ironman 2 for 5 bucks with food and drink I brought myself. Hell yeah.