A Look at Online Piracy of Movies and Music Johnny Lam Randi Wagner Davina Vilaylak

Introduction Online piracy is associated with copyright infringement o Copyright infringement is defined as unauthorized distribution or use of copyrighted works Opponents use the term online piracy because they see copyright violators as pirates that ravaged ships Proponents use the term to recollect the romanticism of the pirate lifestyle which is the epitome of individual freedom and liberation

Introduction (cont.) Online piracy results in: o violation of intellectual property rights o in monetary losses o artistic and creative development being threatened Opponents argue… o there are significant losses in profit o music is not only produced by the artist but also support staff such as engineers, designers, etc. o Reduces the incentive to produce music Proponents argue… o Profit loss is minimal o People who engage in pirating would not purchase the product anyways o People sample music by pirating and purchase CDs if they like it There has been no substantial and definitive evidence to support either sides claim

Introduction (cont.) Online piracy mainly consists of audio and video content, but it can also include o Software o Books o Other forms of intellectual property Occurs mainly because it is cheaper and more convenient than most legal means

Introduction (cont.) Online piracy is possible because of many technological factors o High volume, inexpensive digital storage media o Compression formats allowing files to be downloaded, copied and stored more easily o High speed internet allowing for quick transfer of large files o Peer to peer technology There are mainly two intermediaries for online piracy: the internet and peer to peer file sharing

Here are some facts…

Some more interesting tidbits …

Recent Online Piracy Legislation The goal of SOPA & PIPA is to combat foreign websites that engage in counterfeiting and violate copyrights Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) o Allows intellectual property owners to shut down foreign sites that infringe copyrighted works Protect IP Act (PIPA) o Requires companies to block domain names of websites

Why did they create SOPA?

Piracy of Video Content One of the most commonly pirated materials are movies and television shows. Posting a video on the Web that features copyrighted content is illegal, but the practice is still extremely common. While many companies have taken measures in order to stop piracy, it still continues strongly.

Reasons for Piracy of Video Content Cost People often want to share short clips from videos with friends. People want to edit down movies/TV shows for other creative reasons Some have otherwise no access to TV show/movie Its fairly easy to do and can sometimes yield a profit

Piracy and the Entertainment Industry Study on whether or not pirated movies hurt box office performances o Experiment- Using a variety of controls, researchers compared ticket sales before and after BitTorrent Researchers most interested in seeing the effect of release lag on ticket sales o Result- They found that the greater the lag in the release of the film, the more piracy occurred, and the film would lose money Science fiction/action movies pirated the most o Impatience and piracy

Piracy and the Entertainment Industry A report on the study also mentioned the effect on television studios NBC- removed its content from iTunes after being unable to settle a contract with Apple Shortly afterward, NBC shows became much more frequently pirated The study cites that piracy often occurs when there is no other alternative to viewing the content

Piracy and the Entertainment Industry An article from Forbes.com suggests that the entertainment industry might in fact be exaggerating about the effect of piracy. The article suggests there is no clear link between fewer sales and the amount of piracy o It is also noted that, typically, the most pirated movies are also the highest performing at the box office

Strategies to Combat Piracy SOPA/PIPA o Designed to stop websites from allowing users to post copyrighted material o Seen as a threat to sites like YouTube and Facebook YouTube copyright school o Interestingly, YouTube has set up a class of sorts where those who repeatedly pirate content will become educated in the law to hopefully change their ways o Regardless, if a user is reported for piracy three times, their account is suspended

Strategies to Combat Piracy An L.A. Times article also mentions how YouTube searches out its piracy violators. o By having companies submit large sections of their work (movies or television shows), bots can search through the uploaded YouTube videos for content that is too similar to source material It is also considered a felony to record in a movie theater.

Audio Piracy While piracy of audio is little compared to the piracy of movies and television shows. It is still a step in showing how piracy evolved from just music to many other types of digital media.

History of Audio Piracy (Before the Internet) It was easy to catch people with physical evidence when it became detected. 1976, Copyright Revision Act made infringement of copyright for commercial or private financial gain illegal. 1982, it became a felony. And in 1992, the stakes went up to 5 yrs in prison and $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations.

History Contd (After the Internet) The first real threat to the both the music and music industry were the combination of the MP3 and the Internet. o MP3 (MPEG-1, Layer 3) is a compression/ decompression format that enabled users to download from CDs, or share recordings w/ friends online. o While not the only recording tool out there it was the first noticeable one.

Napster Opened in 1999 as song copying service. Had < 50 million users a year later. A survey said that 3000 out of 4000 students used Napster at least once a month. Many people thought that the success of Napster was the finish of copyright. Sued by 18 companies for copyright infringement.

Strategies to Combat Piracy With the threat of the MP3, all record labels were encouraged to engage in learning about the development to minimize potential damage from this disruptive technology. The companies must accept the changing environment and use the technology to their advantage while safeguarding their copyrights.

iTunes Pros o Do not need to pay for costs of disks and its packaging. o Makes use of current online technology. Cons o Makes it easier to download easily and send it to others.

Conclusion Online piracy is very hard to stop, and stopping the internets growth is almost impossible. Corporations will have to deal with the new technology by adapting to it and using it to their advantage.

The End Baase, Sara. A Gift of Fire. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., Print. Bragg, Austin, et al. Internet Censorship is the Wrong Answer to Online Piracy. YouTube. Youtube.com. Web. 12 December Web. 7 August DJ Summit. Piracy: Deliberate Infringement of a Copyright. DJ Summit. computerdjsummit.com Web. 7 August Himmelman, Peter, et al. Pirate Nation. YouTube. Youtube.com. 17 July Web. 7 August Kain, Erik. Does Online Piracy Hurt the Entertainment Industry? Forbes. Forbes.com. 1 January Web. 5 August numbers/. Moyer, Michael. "Does Digital Piracy Really Hurt Movies?." Scientific American (2012): 25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 July Online Piracy in Numbers- Facts and Statistics. Infographic. Go-Gulf. Go-Gulf.com. 11 November Web. 5 August Quinn, Michelle. YouTube anti-piracy plan: Give us videos you dont want to be copied. Los Angeles Times. Latimes.com. 16 October Web. 30 July Smith, Lamar. A FBIT anti-piracy warning text. Picture. CNN. Cnn.com. 20 January Web. 7 August Willington, Ray. Google Forces YouTube Piracy Violators to Attend Copyright School. Hot Hardware. Hothardware.com. 16 April Web. 30 July /Google-Forces-YouTube-Piracy-Violators-To-Attend-Copyright-School/. References