RANT ALERT! I decided to put in my 2 cents on copying movies. FYI, I have a totally different opinion about copying music and will post that rant another time. First of all I feel both sympathetic toward the movie industry, but at the same time feel like they deserve what they get...The Motion Picture Association of America and MPA have--like the RIAA--been complaining about piracy for a long time. In fact, I remember when they thought that VCRs would be the bane of the industry. Now most movies make more money when released to home video than they did in the box office. In fact, the MPAA's website states: "the industry relies upon a carefully planned sequential release of movies, first releasing feature films in cinemas, then to home video, and then to other media." Thank God for home videos, right MPAA?!
Once the industry stopped fighting the technology and instead embraced it, they found a way to make even more money. Sure, piracy still existed, and probably always will, but the key point was that the new technology MADE them more money then they would have ever had otherwise. Yet, the MPAA states: "...four out of ten movies never recoup the original investment." Is this solely the result of piracy, or of poor management, over-production, or just plain "bad movies"? I think that piracy is hardly the culprit in most cases.
However, the reason why I do feel somewhat sympathetic toward MPAA, is that in about 90% of the cases, unlike music, viewing a movie once uses most of the value of the product. That is, once you've seen the movie, you are not likely to want to pay for it again, unless it is on your list of favorites. Music you want to listen to over and over, and in fact, the more you listen the more you might like it. I recently saw a movie I thought was very good, but have enough of a backlist of movies I want to see, that I probably won't see it again unless I happen to run into it on cable. There are always exceptions of course, Disney is the biggest winner here; how many parents do you think will buy Finding Nemo in DVD? And they now sell every movie they made since the 1930's in DVD format!
Anyway, I respect their right to want to make money -BUT- to create a win-win situation, the movie industry has to address the concerns of the consumer, embrace the technology instead of fight it (i.e., don't alienate your customers like RIAA!), and the industry will be profitable for a long time to come, as long as you can manage your business effectively. Here are some key points:
* I think it would be OK to copy-protect videos as long as I can watch it as often as I like without restrictions
* The distributor/studio, etc. should automatically provide free lifetime replacements, without question, for damaged media thereby addressing concerns of consumers who want "backup" copies
* I just paid big bucks for a movie, get rid of all the advertisements for God's sake!