MPAA to Launch Anti-Piracy Commercials 662
cfish writes "The MPAA is launching expensive 30 second TV commercials to preach about movie piracy. Featuring starving artists in the movie industry."
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MPAA to Launch Anti-Piracy Commercials
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A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. -- Thomas Jefferson
please don't confuse me! (Score:5, Funny)
But the MPAA says it's bad. Why must Hollywood send me conflicting messages?
Mike
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:5, Funny)
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength.
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:3, Funny)
Everytime you conquer a town..."Liberation! yayyyyy"
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:5, Informative)
Wait a second...
I got copies of the ads for download! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:3, Insightful)
There are 5 of us at the office that all put in for the movies. We buy them for $10 off the street and split the price at $2 each. We've got quite the library that we can take on the road/home and watch wherever we want. A)It ends up costing less than blank DVD media. B)We get new releases. C)We don't have to pay to go see the movie in the theater. (A few of the guys have kids and would rather not pay $35 for kid's movies and can't go see PG-13 or R without sending the kids to a b
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:4, Funny)
I was proceeding on the assumption that everyone on
Re:please don't confuse me! (Score:3, Insightful)
In our collective opinion, it's stupid for
Arr Matey! Amazon Women on the Moon had it first! (Score:5, Informative)
you need to see Amazon Women on the Moon [imdb.com] if you want to see really conflicting. Some "pirates" seize the MCA/Universal ship and steal the movies and video discs. It's an absolutely hilarious segment...
hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hmmm... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Bob: No problem Steve. I figure we should have had a 25% increase in sales this year however those darn file swapers kept our increase to a modest 8%. Make sure the reported numbers reflect that.
Bob: And Steve while you are at it. Could you take a few million of the money laying around and make a comersial about how much file swapping is hurting the industry.
Thanks
Steve: No Problem. I will get right on it.
This is Dan (Score:5, Funny)
This is the sharer who hosted the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the cracker who sold ripped the AVI that the sharer hosted that Dan downloaded.
And this is movie star who shot herself for losing the money.
Downloading AVIs supports terrible things. If you download AVIs you might too.
Brought to you by the MPAA
Re:This is Dan (Score:5, Funny)
This is the sharer who hosted the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the cracker who sold ripped the AVI that the sharer hosted that Dan downloaded.
This is the Hollywood studio that went broke over poor ticket sales because of the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the actress who can't afford to buy crack because of the movie studio that went broke because of the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the crack dealer who's starving because his customers went broke because of the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the drug kingpin who was assassinated because he couldn't buy guns because of the lost drug revenue because of the AVI that Dan downloaded.
This is the Betty Ford Clinic therapist who's been laid off because of the lack of business because of the AVI that Dan downloaded.
Dan is one influential son of a bitch.
Three Things (Score:5, Informative)
Beginning Friday, July 25, every major exhibitor in the country will donate time to play daily trailers on all screens in more than 5,000 theaters across the United States.
Sounds like a pretty huge campaign, gonna dwarf the EFF's efforts [slashdot.org] by a big margin.
2 Here is the website of the campaign [respectcopyrights.org]. There's even some FUD [respectcopyrights.org]: Network users have a back door to your hard drive while you're online, thereby seeing your personal, private information, such as bank records, social security number, etc.
3 The article first said (in the badly edited future) it was the RIAA doing it, when it's the MPAA...I think it was a case of RIAA on the brain.
Re:Three Things (Score:5, Funny)
(...)
Network users have a back door to your hard drive while you're online, thereby seeing your personal, private information, such as bank records, social security number, etc.
Which is why the RIAA recommends you use Open Source P2P software such as gtk-gnutella and gnucleus. Remember kids:
"You can't hide a trojan
when the source code is open".
Re:Three Things (Score:4, Funny)
I think the best summary of their case is the fact that both of their examples of The Magic of Movies!!! are from the '70s. Why yes, I do remember the chills I got from Jaws. That's probably why I got so depressed after you people made a third goddamn Mummy movie. Wait, no, you put the head of a wrestler onto a giant flying scorpion. That'd reduce me to a blubbering wreck even if my viewing experience were limited to The Cable Guy, and for that matter, every goddamn movie since 1989.
Easy answer (Score:5, Funny)
--
Re:Easy answer (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Easy answer (Score:5, Insightful)
Prince of Thieves (Score:5, Funny)
But... (Score:4, Funny)
How about the other side (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How about the other side (Score:3, Interesting)
If priacy is such a huge problem because it's so easy for someone to quickly and conveniently download a decent quality movie from the web, why doesn't someone slap together a business plan and create a cost based service out of exactly that?
The RIAA may suck, but at least they're giving that a shot with a few new services th
Re:How about the other side (Score:5, Insightful)
Irony (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Irony (Score:5, Interesting)
Scene 1: Narrator "This is the actor that got paid $20 Million to star in this really bad movie. The movie Cost $500 Million to make, and lost $100 Million at the box office."
Scene 2: (Cue pic of 3 people living in an alley, 2 adults, one 3 year old girl) Narrator: "This is the gaffer who worked on that movie. The studio cut him to save money on their next film. Now little Amy doesn't have a home..."
Re:Irony (Score:3, Insightful)
please (Score:2)
send food to India, China, Asia, and anywhere else but US..
Can someone rip an AVI of that? (Score:3, Redundant)
Re:Can someone rip an AVI of that? (Score:5, Informative)
A better link here (Score:5, Insightful)
Use it to make them know exactly what you feel about their "campaign".
I suggest that you be very polite, just ask them some questions.
Yes, you are not accusing them of anything, in fact, you'll be happy to support their cause if they just explain certain issues that you find confusing...
Like, for example, wouldn't they agree that taking say, 5-10%, of the $30,000,000 that a single actor might get paid fro a single movie and distributing it among the poor, starving stage workers will help them much more than spending large amounts of money on dishonest advertisements?
Oh, and by the way, when a movie makes some X millions of dollars, how much of it is distributed among the workers and how much is kept by the middlemen (the studios)?
And one last thing, could they you how much the top 50 movies gross in 2002/2003 and what was the average stage worker salary at the time? And would they be so kind as to compare those figures to a time before the wide spread of DVD recorders and high-speed internet (say, 10 years ago?) - adjusted for the usual economy-strength indicators - just to show you what was the effect of piracy on the figures above?
Thank you in advance, best regards, merry christmas, yadda yadda,
Be creative!
Then, if you do get an answer, rip it apart, exposing all its flaws and fallacies (in an extremely polite matter, of course) and ask them for better ones, because it seems to you that they are the real "pirates" in this saga.
Re:Can someone rip an AVI of that? (Score:2)
I've talked with other TiVo owners and I'm not alone in this.
Donating time? (Score:2, Interesting)
Good timing... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Good timing... (Score:5, Insightful)
People often forget about the compensation part...
Greed Cloaked In Bogus Moralistic Rationalizations (Score:5, Insightful)
Says who? In any case, how an artist wants to make money is a matter for that artist, and no one else.
>> Pre-recorded albums should be free promotional material and a service to the fans.
Self-serving bunk. People can try to sell whatever they want. Your use of "should" implies a moral judgment at work. Morality has nothing to do with this. As my mother used to say, people in hell want ice water. And you just want free CD's.
>>
First, it's a safe bet that every entertainer knows there's money in selling tickets to a performance. Second, what's with that "unnecessary middleman" stuff? You want someone to be a fullt-time entertainer and fly their own planes, do their own accounting, arrange their own bookings, run their own payroll, act as their own lawyers, write their own contracts, prepare their own taxes, etc.?? Without middlemen, those bands you keep referring to as "artists" would never break out of the college bar circuits.
In general, just one more immature post trying to dress simple greed in bogus moralistic rationalizations.
Re:Good timing... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, until we're all convicted for felonious copyright infringement, which would then cost us our right to vote, leaving the current administration and their *AA sugardaddies in power, untouchable by anyone who disagrees with them.
Spooky when ya look at the longterm picture, yes?
-72
Why are they starving? (Score:2)
Ben
starving artist (Score:2, Interesting)
Cool! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Cool! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Cool! (Score:3, Funny)
I think you are right, they would probably be better portrayed in a 'Got Milk' commercial
Not quite right (Score:2)
Starving artists?!?!? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hell, I want to see a commercial that shows starving Americans that were the result of the greedy corporations moving their jobs overseas.
How about that to "enlighten" people?
What these commercials are really telling us... (Score:5, Interesting)
Now everyone will know that it's easy to get them.
Re:What these commercials are really telling us... (Score:3, Insightful)
I wonder... (Score:2)
If only it were the RIAA.... (Score:2)
s/Kid Rock/movie star of your choice.
Kid Rock Starves to Death [theonion.com]
Against Movie Piracy? (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, blame it on the pirates (Score:2, Troll)
I'm not saying piracy is good, but all I know is, artists get screwed over by pretty much everyone. Supporting the MPAA won't mean that all those poor starving artists will suddenly live like rajahs. It'll be the CEOs etc. etc that get to live the good life.
Don't copy that floppy! (Score:2)
Fuck! It's true!
new motto? (Score:2)
But... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:But... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, yes, it does. One of the things that the publishing and recording industry has been discussing for years now is the growing possibility of limiting the number of readers/viewers to only the original purchaser. It's difficult to do with printed books. But anything in electronic form has a very real possibility of DRM that can implement such a limit.
At least 10 years ago, when the first prospects of electronic publishing were reaching the media, one of the interesting quotes that I read from several sources in the publishing industry was that on the average, each book sold is read by four people. This was followed by the suggestion that they should be seriously looking at ways to solve this problem.
Now, of the books in your home, how many have been read by four or more people? Hardly any of them, right? So where does this average of four readers come from? One place: libraries. The publishing industry does consider libraries to be a serious sales problem, and they are discussing solutions.
This isn't only about electronic books, CDs or DVDs. Part of the discussion has been ways of using political connections to cut back on funding of public libraries.
And a lot of publications already have a much higher subscription price for libraries than for individuals, though they don't really give the libraries anything more for their money.
Here in the US, a lot of the small-town public libraries have closed down in the past decade.
Delusional? (Score:2, Insightful)
- Just not getting it
- Delusional
- Playing games (i.e. laying foundations for more legislation)
I agree that piracy is a crime and folks who are engaging in it are making it harder for the rest of us, but honestly does the RIAA/MPAA expect that the people engaged in this are going to reform by looking at 30 second commercials?Expensive? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hypocricy (Score:2)
Whatever! Like all the little thieves REALLY care about the artists. They just want to justify their immoral activities with any excuse. At least if you're gonna rip people off, be honest about it. Hiding under this pretencious veil is so hypocritical.
In all the previous
All we need now is... (Score:2)
Oh man.. (Score:2)
I love propoganda... (Score:2)
How about the _truth_ (Score:5, Insightful)
Pan out the windows of his dorm room
Show a copy of his bank account with $32 in it
Show you being a heartless bastard and him opening a subpoena
Show him getting really pissed off just because you think the world owes you because you managed to rip off some recording artist.
Show that, and I'll be impressed.
Fuck the RIAA
Great I can see it now.... (Score:2)
With your help we can again start making our usual 300 Million and continue to ROCK ON FOR YOU! So please. Don't steal digital music it's morally, ethically, and legally wrong."
(star shoots across the screen) do dooo doo - The more you know
Can't wait (Score:2, Funny)
Stupid like a FOX! (Score:2)
Either way, ranks right up there with the annoying PSA blitz against drunk driving. Not that I don't agree, but beating it into my skull isn't the way to go.
I can picture it now... (Score:3, Funny)
Some black rapper reject from the PJ's jumps out onto the desktop screen and starts to rap. "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy!
For anyone who doesn't get the joke, there was a video released back in 1992 by (I think) the SIAA titled "Don't copy that floppy." It is the funniest 8 minute public service announcement video you will ever seen in your life. A rapper does this rap chanting "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy" after two kids try and use a Mac to copy a "cool game" onto another floppy disk. You just have to see it to believe it. You can watch a
Good news (Score:2)
(wait wait, put down those torches and pitchforks while I explain!)
Now they're bringing their issues to the mainstream public. I think what they'll find is that they are going to alienate the general public, and causing the public to think twice about what they buy and who they support by buying it.
1984 (Score:2)
Another article link (Score:3, Informative)
Also, if you want the MPAA's message stright from the source, it's at http://www.respectcopyrights.org [respectcopyrights.org].
Laughable Morality (Score:5, Insightful)
oh no! sex and drugs! (Score:3, Insightful)
What does that mean? Because a filmmaker dares to upset the socially conservative status quo by tackling subjects like sex, drugs, violence, bigotry, etc suddenly they have no moral standing?
Sorry but try as you might, you Christian Fundamentalists or whatever you are cannot co-op the word morality and throw it around in the use of a really bad straw man argument.
There's a lot of things to criticize the content industries about, but the content itself should be hands off.
Re:oh no! sex and drugs! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Their Work" (Score:5, Insightful)
When you mass produce art it loses its value. Yet here is an industry that insists upon using any method possible to prop up a broken method of enrichment. So as far as I can see the problem is they don't understand that people don't value their work, and they need to adjust it if it is to be more than simply personal gratification.
Move over RIAA.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Jim Carrey $20+ million a film
Cameron Diaz $20+ million a film
Mid Tier actors make around $10 million a film
Lower Tier actors make around a few hundred thousand up to multiple millions
The at home user might dl a divx copy of a currently released film playing at the theaters only to go see it at the theater and/or buy it when it's released on DVD.
So the user at home spends around $9 to see the movie at the theater and another $20 to buy the DVD and the actors take many, many millions in salary to make the movie. How does this constitute taking money from the movie industry?
Who is actually taking the money (actors/marketing) and who is supporting the industry (user/consumer)? This is a very simple question without factoring in the obscene amount spent on marketing films. We're talking 10's of millions in marketing films.
It is not out fault that most movies these days are over budgeted and spend too much on marketing to turn a profit. This almost reminds me of the dot-com business model where they just spent to spend without having a sound business model in place.
Don't blame the consumer for your shortsidedness and/or lack of envisioning a film's realistic chances of making money.
This is definitely the day of scape-goating at the pc user/consumer's expense. They can get creative with the books anymore so now it's time to blame the consumer and spend money in support of the propoganda. What better way to distratct shareholders and such from realizing it's just bad business decisions and irresponsibility!
Once again I'm still exersizing my right to boycott because I refuse to support an entity that will only try to sue me into financial ruin with the money I give them.
That does it (Score:5, Interesting)
This fron the people responsible for the term 'foxing' a show. I think Matt Groenig, Joss Whedon, and Ben Edlund, among others, may have a thing or two to say about what exactly constitutes a blow to creativity. Hint: It's not piracy. It's Fox.
I'm so mad I'm going to go off and dwonload a pirated copy of Daredevil and NEVER WATCH IT!
This is a GOOD thing. (Score:5, Insightful)
Lobbying to pass laws to criminalize behavior is a whole different matter - that's the brute-force approach that leverages the State's monopoly on legal violence to achieve their aims.
Run as many ads and try to change as many minds peacefully and through reason as you want. Appeal to peoples' higher instincts. That's perfect.
Don't make using tools illegal.
How can this be a good thing? (Score:3, Insightful)
The theaters already show about 20 minutes of advertisements before each movie, and this is after I already paid to see the thing! They waste 20 minutes of my time for what, a nickel? Now they're going to add a 65 second PSA to the wasted time. Don't forget, the people going to the movie are paying customers. If they were downloading movies off of the internet instead of seeing it in the theater, they wouldn't be there.
This makes as much sense as forcing patrons of a retail store to listen to a 65 second
Here's the commercial (Score:5, Funny)
I get $1.20 off of every CD I sell. With 12 songs on my CD it means every time you pirate a song it cost me 10 cents. For every hundred thousand of your downloads I lose $10,000 !
Of course, my record company gave me an advance of $100,000 that I have to pay back. And then they made me pay for the recording studio where I recorded my own music. That was another $100,000.
Oh wait, They also made me pay for their mid level marketers to pay that money-that-looks-like-but-isn't-really-payola to Clear Channel to get my songs on the radio. That was another $200,000. And of course I have to pay the rest of the band. Not to mention the cost of going out to tour to support this new CD.
Oh yeah, and I don't even own my own songs any more, or my voice, or the recordings of those songs, or the cover art, or anything. In fact, my music is now legally known as "Work for hire". And if I don't like how I'm being treated I can't leave my record label without their permission.
Oh, and the record company that sold those albums? They made about 3 million dollars of profit.
So how am I suppose to pay off my $400,000 debt to the record company if you keep pirating my songs? So stop it. mmm-kay?
Thank you
I know (Score:4, Funny)
Balance (Score:3, Interesting)
I take issue with both. Sure, you may not think it's cool that the MPAA and the RIAA want to make money off of music, movies, etc; And you may even justify this opinion by saying "well, they are exploiting the poor muscisians in the first place" or "they have been found guilty of price gouging", etc. But the fact is, if the MPAA wants to educate people as to the illegality of movie piracy, on the level of principle (and within the laws of this country) they have every reason to do so given their business model in a capitalist economy.
Don't get me wrong...I have nothing against P2P networks, file sharing, etc. Many forward-looking artists are encouraging the free flow of their music through these avenues. The notion of punishing all file-swappers because of the actions of the few, as some legislators have recommended, is assinine.
Balance is what is needed in this argument. The extremist arguments and knee-jerk reactions from the geek community at large will only make the big media companies more worried and more interested in blanket remedies, IMHO. Likewise, the blanket remedies proposed by the big media companies and their lobby will only make the citizens want to lash out all the more.
flame away
starving? (Score:3, Funny)
Dont Copy That Floppy! (Score:3, Funny)
http://static.hugi.is/video/fyndin/dctf-1.wmv [static.hugi.is]
Quote from the ad tells who's to blame (Score:5, Funny)
"(piracy issue) well I don't believe it affects the producers. I mean it does affect them but it's miniscure to the way it affects me.
So the movie producers admit they are ripping off the workers? The workers get the leftover, which is nothing.
(Nice orange mustache, though. )
MPAA should be worried (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I cannot see how one could watch an inferior rip of Matrix Reloaded or T3 on his computer monitor or through Divx on a TV. The quality just isn't there anymore. You're not experiencing the picture and audio they way it was intended. When a studio throws hundreds of millions at some flick which has a decent plot, then $10/ticket is a no-brainer. In case of downloading the movie you are just cheating yourself.
For dialogue based movies which do not feature explosions, sophisticated camerawork, etc it would be fair to say they will suffer more piracy than action-based ones.
Due to this inevitable trend, studios usually have no choice but to upping the action movie production [boxofficemojo.com] quota just to be more profitable in the box office.
The thing that irks me with the market today is the lack of diversity [boxofficemojo.com] (below each title it shows how many screens the movie is playing on). Every theatre features the same pictures in proximity of 20 miles from each other. (HEY! Sort of like RIAA's with music distribution). The smaller, more thought out movies are not even on the radar. Take Man on The Train [apple.com] for example. I live in Hollywood, CA and would have to drive 300 miles north (Merced, CA) to watch this movie. That's the closest. But finding a theatre playing Legally Blonde 2 or Bruce Almighty would be easier than finding a Starbucks around here.
Then, we have the international opening dates sometimes several months away from each other. Hey MPAA, get a fucking clue. This isn't the 1920's anymore. When I talk to my friends in Holland, I should automatically assume they have the same roaster of movies playing at their theatres. We are connected globally nowdays. Bumping release dates of movies hurts the cause and encourages piracy.
So in conclusion,
music sharing = death of 1 hit/1 track wonders
movie piracy = death of dialogue based movies.
Re:MPAA should be worried (Score:3, Insightful)
This is wrong. A good director (or, more precisely, cinematographer) can make a dialogue based movie have more powerful images than any action flick. And the precision of the details will last longer than any 'hulk'ing green marshmallows that will be rendered in real-time on the next generation of video cards.
Just look at your own evidence:
"I live in Hollywood, CA and would have to drive 300 miles north (Merced, CA) to watch this [non-action indie] movie.
Gaaaah, the irony... (Score:3, Interesting)
This is similar to showing the unskippable FBI warning on frigging DVDs. People who pay are further annoyed, pirates do not notice this at all. Great idea!
I thought for sure... (Score:4, Funny)
a. have read the article, and
b. know how to spell
We already have these in Canada (Score:3, Informative)
A young boy goes into a grocery/convenience store, and pockets some candy. He leaves, the shopkeeper catches him, and the next shot is the cops bringing the kid home. So Dad and Junior are having a heart-to-heart, Dad is asking "where did you learn to steal?" Junior replies: "But Dad! You steal satellite signals!".
The commercial then cuts to a message to the effect of "theft is theft. stealing satellite signals is a crime. Sponsored by your local cable companies".
The first time I saw this, I would have sworn it was going to be a commercial paid for by the satellite providers in Canada. Nope, looks like the cable co's are feeling the pinch of DTV piracy in Canada (arrr matey).
Blatantly wrong propaganda such as this turns my stomach, but they sure have my parents convinced - they now are very nervous about the cryptography course I'm taking next year, because I told them I could use that knowledge to help decrpyt satellite signals.
Nice world we live in, eh?
My Response to FUD (Score:3, Informative)
Italicized are quoted from: http://www.respectcopyrights.org/popup/why-3.html
Have you ever had your computer crash and had to replace it or reinstall all the files due to a virus or other such problem? The nature of "peer-to-peer" file sharing sites like eDonkey, Gnutella, KaZaA, etc., open your computer to destructive viruses and worms and annoying pop-ups. Common Viruses: Apher, Benjamin, Backdoor, Duload, Fizzer, Hantner, Klez, Neuer, Nimda, Livra and Magic Eightball
The nature of peer-to-peer is NOT to "open the computer to destructive viruses and worms and annoying pop-ups." This is a common misconception. Peer-to-peer is a tool and technlogy. Peer-to-peer is a techology that is designed to evolve the distribution channel from the traditional server-client to client(also a server)-otherclients(also servers). There are advantages since it relieves bandwidth from the server. Peer-to-peer is a useful tool of distribution especially when the distributor does not have the manpower to distribute their work. It can especially be useful for independent musicians and amateur directors who do not have the resources. Since peer-to-peer is a technology, it can also be abused. I agree with that but peer-to-peer technology offers tremendous outcome. Though in many people's minds, peer-to-peer is linked to pirating, peer-to-peer is NOT pirating. It is simply a technology. The nature of peer-to-peer is not to open the computer for viruses/popups. Though Kazaa and several other programs do include malware/spyware into their programs, they are not the total of one technology. They are only one implementaiton of a technology. Kazaa also has many legal materials and offers an efficient method of distribution. Second, Gnutella is NOT a peer-to-peer site. Gnutella is a peer-to-peer network. Programs that implement Gnutella such as Gnucleus and others are programs. There are also many Gnutella clients out there that are open source such as Gnucleus. You can inspect the code to see if there is any relation of viruses or spyware.
You also become a distribution source for illegal downloading of movies, music and more, which makes you just as responsible if you had downloaded the movie yourself. Network users have a back door to your hard drive while you're online, thereby seeing your personal, private information, such as bank records, social security number, etc. Is the theft of your personal information worth the free movie?
Please show evidence of this. I do not have any knowledge of this. Most file sharing programs that implement peer-to-peer technology has limited access to the hard drive (usually a specified directory). Unless the user specified to share the files related to their personal information or there are no bugs in the file sharing program, I do not understand how they have a backdoor.
MPAA out of touch with reality (Score:5, Interesting)
I AM a starving artist in the film industry, and it's not because of piracy, I can tell you that much right now.
Nobody has stolen my work. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if someone did, because at least I'd be getting exposure...
The main reason why artists in the film industry starve, is pretty simple:
THE STUDIOS ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEY, NOT ART.
So, they will hire those who make the most money, not the best artists. Why else do you think Michael Bay gets to direct? It's not because he's an artist (Far from it). It's because he knows how to stage action, and action sells tickets.
It's the same bullshit story as with the music industry. A handful of people get promoted to death so the corporation that they have a contract with can make as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time.
In the meantime, real artists, whose appeal isn't as bland and generic (read: mainstream) are left to fight for the crumbs.
So, these commercials do nothing to end the starvation of artists. They are primarily designed to further the wealth of the few that are already getting paid more than they're worth.
I'd go so far as to say they have a better chance of increasing the number of people who starve.
It's not because of piracy that movies lose money. Movies lose money if they don't have a marketing blitz promoting it. Even the biggest bombs at the box office still break even for the studios through video sales. The only movies actually LOSING money are independent features that might have something to say other than "hey look at that explosion, isn't that cool?".
The studios are not STARVING... not by any stretch of the imagination. The ones starving, are the people the studios screw over.
The attitude here is "we could be making more".
Re:up next (Score:4, Insightful)
the war on piracy....it'll have the same results as the war on drugs, or the war on terrorism
Actually, the war on piracy has been going on longer than you thought! I have a video, and there are still posters of "Don't Copy That Floppy," an effort to prevent people from copying floppy disks of games. There are still quite a few of these posters in Gov't buildings, featuring a young, rapping Arsenio Hall look-alike, a couple dumpy kids, and an Apple][ E. Google for "don't copy that floppy video" and you can probably download it somewhere.
Re:up next (Score:2, Funny)
Re:People don't consider sharing music piracy (Score:2)
You weren't worried about getting caught, which is different. I think most people agree that copying music is wrong. At least it feels wrong to some people, since you can go buy a CD for $15, or burn it for free, so there must be something illegitimate about burning. So people don't object strongly when it's called "piracy", "theft", etc. -- and why people don't hav
Re:Pigs! (Score:5, Interesting)
Jenn T (Score:3, Interesting)
expierence with the record companies.
The quick clumsy summary is that they exploit the artists badly.
She writes these days and plays in the band Loveless. I have seen them play a few times and they are great. Fun well written Pop/Rock. (I don't know exactly how to describe them)
lvls.com has a free MP3 to download with the bands permission so people can check them out.
A very different attitude towards file sharing!
Re:How about abolishing copyright/patents/trademar (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably because others have come to realize the unreasonable extremism of your stance. I concede that the current state of the copyright and patent systems is absurd and insane, but Ifind nothing wrong with reasonable copyrights and patents. A creator of a work, be it physical or intellectual, should be granted the exclusive rights to reap the rewards of their labor for a reasonable length of time. And while I think inventors should also be allowed a shoirt-term monopoly on their inventions, I do not think that it is reasonable in the least that someone can patent a sequence of genes that they found.
As for trademarks, I have no problem with trademarks at all. If I create a company I want customers to have a reasonable level of assurance that when they by Dogfart brand toothpaste, that they are buying my product and not some cheap knock-off.
The problem is not that intellectuial property is immoral. The problem is that the IP system in place in the USA right now is out of control and has been coopted by the interests of big business at everyone else's expence.
Re:How does Hollywood stay in Business? (Score:3, Insightful)