Online piracy of music and movies is bad for creative industry!
Copyright was created to prevent theft of content, both online and offline but it seems that the concept is becoming older and outdated as online piracy gains popularity like never before. Most people don’t buy music. They simply download it as soon as they are out. An even larger section of the people waits for popular movies to leak into torrent sites so that they could watch it without having to pay for it.
Piracy started out as the new word for theft but soon got backed with supports that claimed there wasn’t any financial impact rising from it and that they help make the music or the movie more popular. These are the people who were not going to have the CD or hit the theatre anytime soon. They got it for free at convenience and hence they had it.
Arguments against piracy are very strong. The fact that it is bad for creativity and artistic development cannot be ignored. E-books, for instance, can be beneficial to be read on the go but when they are copied and distributed for free online, how is the writer supposed to benefit for his work? Are we losing our sensibility in the run for saving time and money?
Yes:1. Illegal : It is illegal. That should be enough of a reason to stop responsible citizens from using it. If it is illegal everywhere in the world, there has to be a strong reason behind it. Copyright infringement is a serious offense and you will have to pay for it sooner or later. If you breach someone’s copyright, you ought to know that you are breaking laws and that you could land in trouble too, even though you know everyone else is also doing it. If you download copyrighted content from your work place, you could get fired for it. If Artem Vaulim of KickAss Torrents could pay for it, so can you one fine day if you don’t stop stealing content online.
2. Wasting someone’s efforts : You are doing serious emotional and economical damage here. The person who deployed all his resources towards the creation of content is liable to receive the benefits of it but that is only possible when people pay for watching/hearing it. Think of all the hard work that it takes for a production to film a movie, in a single click you waste their hard slog and discourage them if they are amateurs trying their luck in the industry. Most music bands never get recognized because piracy discouraged them even before they could come to a good start.
3. Spyware: These sites from which you download pirated content are usually the least secured ones ever. You could easily get your computer infected with serious spyware or malware that would make you pay for your theft habit. They can infect your file even before you know it and the next thing you would see is your privacy being breached and spied upon. Those viruses can make you pay in double once they affect the whole software and database. You could lose important data and your personal files would no longer remain personal. These can also be very difficult to remove most of the time. So much for saving a few bucks!
4. Morally incorrect: Even if you don’t pay for the crime, you will have the guilt to live with. You do understand the damage you are doing to someone’s hard work and promoting theft of content and yet you go on with it. You are making them suffer loss even when they worked hard and eventually those who legitimately make purchase have to pay more due to increased prices owing to the piracy industry.
5. Missing the real fun: Those heavily animated movies that use high quality graphic work to bring the experience look like real to you have been doing all that for a reason. They are meant to be viewed on the large screen with the special sound effects that add to the dramatic fiction meant to be created for the viewer. When you download the content on your computer or mobile, you simply see the low quality video that doesn’t convey the real fun that was intended by the filmmaker.
No:1. Promoting the movie : Gone are the days when filmmakers opposed the piracy industry. They might even start endorsing it now. One person who wasn’t even going to watch the movie gets to watch it for free and tells 10 others who get inspired and go to the theatre to watch the movie. It is free promotion. The popular series Game of Thrones benefitted largely from online piracy of their episodes. Their revenue increased considerably after piracy. The only ones who lose is the small movies with low budgets. The blockbusters hardly get affected from piracy.
2. Newbie gets the kick : Small artists who are looking for platform to showcase their work benefits from the piracy industry. These are artists who would otherwise have never been known or heard of but since their work could easily be downloaded for free, people get to sneak at their work and if they like it, the artist could get the much needed start and encouragement for the work. Their work gets advertised and reviewed for free. What more could they have asked for?
3. Helping reach out to people far off : People in the remote or underdeveloped areas where cinemas are not very popular or even prohibited in some cases, torrents and piracy are the only bliss for entertainment. Purchasing content online is also a option many would say but since most people in these areas are poor, they wouldn’t want to spend any money on downloading if it isn’t free. If it wasn’t for torrents, these people would remain oblivious to the latest movies and music. The entertainment industry is meant to help people relax and have a good time after all the hard work.
4. Movies do benefit from privacy : Udta Punjab was leaked way before the real release when the film was facing the controversy. It got viewed and liked by people and hence the centre board was forced to give the movie a clean go without any cuts. Online piracy do benefit in such cases.
The piracy industry has grown large, much like the online digitalization of books and everything under the sun these days. There is nothing that could be done from our country to stop torrents and other piracy sites since they are not originated in India. It is very difficult to control piracy these days. The KickAss Torrent was pulled down but soon went live again after a few days of shutdown. It is the mirror site perhaps but it is there and is going to be there until strict privacy is set on these sites.
