Piracy Thoughts
I thought I’d throw this out there. A friend recently got up on a high horse, looked down from on-high and said that media piracy is immoral because you’re depriving the creator of income. As a content provider, I like his thinking (even though I actually believe piracy ultimately sells more content than it cannibalizes and that piracy protection causes more piracy than they think) but the guy is a hypocrite. Sure, he doesn’t illegally pirate but he – and maybe YOU – are denying the creators of income all the time! Here’s a few thoughts on how you’re doing it and how it being legal doesn’t make any difference to the authors, producers, musicians etc., you’re “ripping off.”
TV
1. Have you ever recorded a show and paused recording during commercials?
2. Do you fast forward through TV commercials?
MOVIES
1. Have you ever recorded a movie from HBO and given it to a friend?
2. Have you ever bought a movie USED?
3. Do you rent movies?
MUSIC
1. Ever made a mix tape or CD?
2. Ever bought one Used?
3. Ever recorded anything off the radio or from a friend?
VIDEO GAMES
1. Ever rented one or borrowed one?
2. Ever bought one Used?
BOOKS
1. Do you use the Library?
2. Do you buy books used or let people borrow one?
WEB
1. Do you donate to small blogs that you read often?
2. Do you use any kind of Ad-blocking software?
You probably get my drift by now. All the above are technically legal or legal under circumstances and every single one denies a content provider income. There’s not a whole lot of difference, to me as an author, if you get my book from a library or borrow it from a friend. I get nothing. If you buy it Used, you’re only helping the Used Store, not the content provider. (Yes, libraries are important for a lot of reasons and yes libraries buy massive quantities of books that otherwise wouldn’t be bought and that is a factor too.)
In an ideal world every single one of us would send a small amount to, for lack of a better example, Stephen King every time one reads a Stephen King novel for free. Legally or not. Music would always be paid for and websites would make more than a pittance off “per click” advertising rates. Movies would never be free and you’d always have to endure advertising on the content providers terms. Circumventing this is arguably immoral, if not illegal.
Just throwing this concept out there. I’m not endorsing piracy and I’m not condemning the library system. Both can create fans and encourage the actual buying of content. Legality is always a factor, but don’t pretend you’re in this for the content creator. You like a deal and when you get a deal, someone suffers for it. But as an aspiring author I cringe every time I see people borrowing a book or buying it USED because if everybody did that, authors would make a lot less money.
Hell, as an author I’d be happier if you pirated my work rather than support Half Price Books, places like GameStop or somebody’s Rummage sale. At least with piracy, nobody is benefitting from the transaction in lieu of the musician. Add in the fact that most Internet piracy is done with little or no benefit to the pirate (this is where those pirated street DVDs differ from net piracy).
Something to think about next time you hit the resell shops, as we all do, or lend something out.
Note: This was partially inspired by a realization that my wife has leant out a book I bought that was written by a friend of mine. She’s leant it to three separate people, thus cannibalizing my friend’s sales each time it’s borrowed. Add to that the fact that her book is available Used at Amazon for a fraction of the asking price and, really, it’s only through the grace of collectors and early adopters that she’s sold any copies at all.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Minor nitpick: the TV station still gets paid for ad revenue even if you fast forward the ads – after all, they have no way of knowing you did it.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Excellent point!
June 8th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
This is a subject close to me. I am a film maker, my wife is a TV exec, my mother in law is a booker for a large movie chain and one of my best friends manages a local video store.
I don’t steal copyrighted works. I’ve seen people laid off because business dropped at a rate consistent with the rise of file sharing. I’ve refuted the notion that rich companies can afford the loss by pointing out that the CEOs don’t take the loss on the chin, they downsize, and it’s some guy earning minimum wage on loading dock that makes up for it with his wages.
But there’s an issue that I think you’ve missed in your piece, the changing nature of the media we get this work in. I think sharing physical media is fine in most cases. I understand your concern for your friend but if I have paid for a book I own it. I can sell it or loan it as I see fit, the due has been paid. It’s far too much for anyone to lay claim to an object you rightly own. Used media is fine IMO, I’m not a fan of Gamestop that rips off the customers but as my video store buddy points out , it would be easier to feel for the publishers if they weren’t offering a $5 margin on a $70 game with no returns for unsold copies. One copy of Lair can kill the profit margin significantly.
I also feel it’s unreasonable to force consumers to jump through hoops to use the media they’ve paid for. I download TV shows to watch at my convenience all the time, my justification is I have full tier satellite service that covers what I want to watch. I have paid for Mythbusters but I see no reason to pay for a DVR that allows me to do exactly what my computer does already (which is bought and paid for) and would do legally if content creators would stop worrying about punishing the people that will never be revenue streams and start catering to those that will using today’s technology.
As for your issue with commercials being skipped, broadcasters aren’t paid for you to watch commercials they are paid to air them. People have been skipping the commercials for as long as they have been a separate entity for the programming. The only difference is now technology allows you to do it from your couch and not your toilet.
But still, I do agree with your premise that stealing is wrong and we are all too casual about it. I just feel it’s a subject that only gets more complicated as transmission media grows and changes. It’s a good piece, the topic is worth a lot more discussion as very few people approach it with anything more than self interest in mind.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Good post, GamerDad. I think it’s important to point these things out to people (even thought they should be quite obvious to them).
My budget for games, DVDs and books is limited, but I still make an effort to support the content creators by buying stuff new (maybe choosing to wait for the first price drop on amazon, instead of e.g. buying a used copy on ebay earlier – recent examples include Bioshock 2).
Alternatively, I satisfy my concience by telling myself that in some cases I’m supporting the content creators in a different way, as with “LOST”. The series aired much later here in Switzerland than in the US, so I just *had* to download the episodes form the internet… but, I’ve gotten a lot of people hooked up on the show who probably wouldn’t have watched it (and some have even bought the DVDs), and I have bought quite a bit of (official) merchandise.
In the end we have to realize that without our support, the content creators won’t be able to keep creating, so being fair (never mind the legal stuff!) is really just common sense, and not at all altruistic.
June 11th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Very good perspective and I agree about the workers suffering rather than the CEO. I agree about the chain of jobs too. But as a content provider, that’s really the only person I care about.
I want to emphasize that this argument I’m making is based on the idea of:
IF “I don’t pirate because I don’t want to screw the content provider (or those minimum wage workers)”
THEN I should acknowledge that there are plenty of LEGAL methods also screw content providers and the minimum wage workers you’re talking about. In fact, historically and probably even now, legal sharing has more of a $$ impact on the bottom line than piracy does. Especially if you believe that every library book checked out results in a lost sale. And you kind of have to accept that idea if you believe that each pirated copy results in a lost sale as well.
I also want to point out that these companies fought tooth and nail against Used selling and the ability to record. Those are two legal things that also hurt the bottom line. If your logic begins and ends at: “Is it legal or illegal” well, that’s clear cut.
June 13th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
“Especially if you believe that every library book checked out results in a lost sale. And you kind of have to accept that idea if you believe that each pirated copy results in a lost sale as well.”
But how can you accept that premise? I would never buy all the books that I borrow from the library. If I had to purchase every book I read, my reading habits would have to change drastically. OTOH, I’ve bought many books *after* first reading them at the library — I’m a serial re-reader — and once I’ve found an author I like, I watch for them in bookstores as well as at the library. The same thing holds true to a lesser extent for music — I tend to hear it from a friend before I go out and buy my own. And my music habits have changed greatly as I’ve aged. I don’t tape friends’ music for myself anymore, but I bet I spend less on legitimately purchased music (adjusted for inflation) than I did 20 years ago.
I also think you are off base on the mix tape idea. It is my understanding (copyright law is so complicated that I might well be wrong) that if I purchase, say, a CD, I can consider the disk an archival copy and make a tape of it for my own use. Give that, I can’t see how it would be illegal to tape songs from multiple cd’s onto the same mix tape, as long as I own the original cd’s and don’t disseminate the mix tape.
Given all that, I try hard to support authors / musicians / artists as much as possible, by buying works that are important to me. But I still use the library a lot, and I don’t think the two are ethically incompatible.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Cynthia, re-read the article. I don’t argue at all that the legal things aren’t legal. I argue that the end result is the same for creators.
IF the reason you don’t pirate because you’re afraid content creators will lose sales
THEN you’re having a similar impact on sales by doing these legal things.
Also, remember, the music/book/film industries fought tooth and nail to STOP those things being legal. These groups HATE the library and Used stores. Because they believe that every copy borrowed and every copy bought used is a lost sale.
You cut out the beginning of my quote. I note the premise is flawed – but its the very premise that’s the basis for the lawsuits. I said that
IF you believe that every pirated copy is a lost sale
THEN you have to believe that every library or used copy is a lost sale.
It isn’t, you check out library books you’d never buy.
People pirate media they never intended to buy.
The rational for both the legal and illegal way is to get/sample something for free.
Creators don’t win either way you do it.
This post came out of my annoyance as a creator over Used book store buyers smugly saying they aren’t hurting the industry by buying Used, borrowing, or library.
Oh and copying any media you own for archival purposes is ILLEGAL, though it’d be hard to prosecute if no money is changing hands. Read that FBI warning more closely!