One thing I’m often criticised for/questioned about is my reluctance to download pirated movies, music and games. I don’t download movies, music or games illegally. I don’t accept copies of pirated items and avoid watching copies of movies or playing copied games with other people whenever possible. This often frustrates, annoys or even offends some people. So today I thought I’d try and explain myself.

I’ll use movies as an example. Imagine you’ve just bought a new movie. You think it’s a great movie and lend it to your friends. They watch it and give it back when they’re done. Having purchased the movie, you’ve generally got the right to do this. It’s your DVD and you have the right to share it with others. After watching the movie, a few of your friends buy a copy or tell their friends who buy a copy or rent it at a video store. It works out well for all parties.

Isn’t borrowing a movie from a friend the same as downloading it off the internet? I still haven’t paid for it.
Personally, I don’t see it as the same thing at all. It is like saying two brothers who get into a fight is the same as World War 2. Sharing digital media on the internet is free distribution on a global scale. When you download a movie off the internet, you aren’t borrowing it, you are receiving your own copy with no idea of where it came from originally. Lending a movie to a few friends is different to duplicating this movie for anyone who wants it around the world.

What if I delete it straight after I watch it?
Sure it’s slightly better than a collection of pirated movies but it’s not without its issues. How much money did everyone involved in that movie get from the 3000 people who all just watched a copied version of one purchased DVD? Even still, how much money did they recieve when the first person who uploaded the DVD didn’t actually purchase it but stole it from a pre release version of the movie which only producers are supposed to have?

The movie studios make enough money, what does it matter if I download a movie or two? They shouldn’t make it so expensive.
Firstly, how do you know how much money each movie studio makes? Some smaller studios in Australia need to rely on government grants just to produce a TV series. Surely all that money they made from previous series would be plenty to fund the next one right? Well apparently not just as Roy Billing, one of the actors from Underbelly points out here,

“contrary to popular belief, actors are not all earning millions. Some of us do very well, some of us just eke out a living — same as in every job. But, like the life cycle of a movie, our income has many streams, unlike an average job where you get paid one wage for the job done. Those extra income streams from the movie or TV show’s initial release to DVD sales or online distribution, make the difference between working for peanuts or getting a fair whack for what we do.

Similarly the production companies that employ us rely on those income streams to make a profit, which can then be channelled back into other productions.”

So do you decide which movies you download based upon the wealth of the movie studio and/or actors? Or do you use the wealthy studios excuse for all downloaded films? (I would like to point out I don’t agree completely with Mr Billing, he believes ISPs should be held liable for illegal downloads, I don’t believe that but that’s a topic for another blog.)

Sure – some movie/tv/music/game studios charge too much or keep too much of the profits, but why does that make getting their work for free okay? How does that help actors and artists? Punishing the whole team for the wrongdoings of their bosses? What if the actors’ payslips relied on DVD purchases? Would you go into a top range clothing store and steal just because you disagreed with the prices set by management?

I don’t see the morality in taking something for free just because I disagree with how the profits are distributed or because I think they’re earning too much. If a group of people have spent months creating a piece of work for your enjoyment, why not pay them what they ask for and support them continuing their work further?

Is piracy really stealing? I haven’t taken it from anyone really.

I do want to point out that downloading movies isn’t really stealing in the usual sense. Piracy allows you to copy their work while the original is still left in possession of the store/owner. As i’ve pointed out above though, I don’t think this makes it okay.

Imagine you spent months on something, be it building a house, designing a piece of clothing, coming up with a brilliant recipe, inventing something amazing, coming up with a unique marketing strategy for your company, designing and developing a new website… pretty much whatever you can think of which falls into your expertise. Imagine that within days of releasing this piece of work it was copied almost exactly and given out for free to everyone and anyone. How would you feel?

I’m all for free movies, music, games… whatever but only if it is authorised by the artist or creator and if they are happy with what they are recieving in return.

Update: Just came across this article which says that:

“A study into Internet piracy by a Paris-based consultancy published on Wednesday showed that 1.2 million jobs in the European Union could be lost over the next five years if more is not done to clamp down on illegal downloading.”

I don’t know anything about the validity of this study or how it was conducted but it’s just food for thought.

Note: I’ll likely update and refine this post when I find better ways to explain my thinking. Feel free to discuss your thoughts and suggest ways for me to better explain this all