The film world is often thought of as an art that is dominated by major corporations. Directors, actors, writers, and other players usually make compromises to satisfy commercial interests of the corporations and executives that finance the films. You have seen one of those stories where the director rants about how much the studio messed up his film. However, that is not the main threat to film.
The Real Threat
The main threat to film is not the sequels or the moneymen in the film world. A major threat to modern films is piracy. Each year, millions of piracy transactions take place. This cause huge loses in revenue for those who bear the cost of distributing films. The figures have been growing for years, although at a slower rate. It is estimated that the numbers could continue growing so much that studios cut back their slates. They will not cut back on franchises or low budget horrors. What will happen is that they will cut back on risky films. Soon, making films will be a rare occurrence. One area where you can access free films is movie torrents. You can visit any site and access movies at no cost.
How Piracy Works Today
Despite the hype, which follows major movies on Oscars’ night, most people will still prefer to download a movie free rather than pay. Piracy online has been around almost as long as the internet has existed. In some cases, there are communities with millions of people that have the sole purpose of converting and sharing copyrighted movies.
In some cases, these communities are so popular, such as Pirate Bay, that they inspire political parties. There has been an attempt to stop them but it is hard. These services often change web hosts and jurisdictions as soon as things get tough. Thus, they have been able to stay ahead of the authorities each time. They have a dubious legal position that makes it almost impossible to prosecute them. Even when successful, enforcing such orders becomes impossible.
The piracy world is always evolving and it is quite large. It has been likened to the Hydra of Greek mythology. As long as one site goes down, it creates some hype and a few others pop up.
The Cost of Piracy
By 2022, the cost of piracy will reach $52 billion. This will be nearly double from the 2016 figures. In the study, about 138 nations were included. However, it was also revealed that it was not all bad news. The growth rates have been slowing as government policy and action reduces. People are more unlikely to pirate movies if there are legal challenges.
By 2022, the US will still be the largest nation by losses to piracy at about $11.6 billion projected in losses. However, the Asia Pacific region will be the largest victim of piracy in 2018. By 2022, the region will experience losses due to piracy of about $20 billion. China has been taking measures to fight piracy but the efforts are not enough.
By 2022, the nation will experience losses due to piracy of about $9.8 billion. However, it will have a surplus of $2.4 billion by revenue from a deficit of $1.2 billion due to piracy in 2016. Despite this, nations such as India are not expected to do as good. Indian piracy will climb from the $700 million in 2016 to reach $3.1 billion in 2022.
Online Streaming Services Are Reducing Piracy
Streaming services, as predicted by industry players, is helping to bring down piracy levels for movies. This was according to a study done in Australia. The study revealed that those who source all their content legally paid less than those who consume some illegal content. It was revealed that piracy fell from 43 percent to 39 percent in just one year. Besides that, it was seen that those who consumed legal content rose from 54 to 57 percent.
Illegal movie downloads fell to 16 percent from 18 percent according to the Consumer survey on Online Copyright Infringement 2016 conducted in Australia. It was also revealed that about 23 percent of all Australians online above 12 years consumed about one illegal item. This is a drop of three percent from 2015. However, only 6 percent of all internet users above 12 only consumed illegal content. Netflix saw a jump of 27 percent for movies up from 9 percent the previous year. This clearly shows that online streaming has a positive impact on fighting piracy.
Summary
The reasons why piracy takes place are quite consistent. Most people pirate movies because they are just too expensive to buy. This is especially so among college-age students, who are still not rich enough to buy all their favorite movies.
However, with cheap streaming and a continued strengthening of the law, it will make it harder to pirate. All of these efforts could help to lower piracy and save the movie sector. Most people who pirate genuinely wish the movie industry to succeed so they can access movies. If prices fall and access to content continue to grow, fewer people will pirate.
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