Your Position on Pirated Movies

Pirated Movies

Pirated movies are an assault on moviemakers’ artistic rights; they result in missed profits, breaches of the law, demoralization of performers, and foster a system of impunity; however, pirated movies have benefits as well; they assist in movie marketing and serve as a measure of how many viewers really want a movie but cannot afford it.

Arguments Against Piracy in Film

Pirated videos are a violation of copyright rules. Every country has laws that protect the creative rights of artists. As per the copyright laws, an individual or entity may not distribute creative works that belong to another individual without written consent or direct authorization from the owner. Pirate movies are distributed without the permission of the owners of the works. This is a violation of copyright law.

The loss of revenues due to the creative works owners is staggering. Famous movies are downloaded in their millions through illegal pirate sites. This represents the number of copies that could have been legitimately sold to earn the creators revenue. The amount of revenue lost to the movie industry is approximated in billions of dollars.

Due to the loss of revenues, the artists do not get what is owed them fully. This leads to the demoralization of artists. It discourages current artists as well as aspiring artists. This can have negative impacts on the creative sector of the nation. Artists contribute to the country by adding to the taxable base of the economy. In some cases, they are a tourist attraction. From this perspective, the country loses revenue as well. When a sector of the economy is successful, then the whole country benefits.

Last but not least, pirating movies has become easy with online streaming services and torrent clients. This has made it easy to copy and share movies illegally. Additionally, it has become harder for the culprits to be caught. This has encouraged the culprits to the point that they download the movies with impunity (Geddes). This impunity is what has prompted some media houses to rise up against certain websites and individuals in their crackdown on piracy. There were open sites such as kick ass torrents that were openly sharing copyrighted content despite warnings not to so (Cs.stanford.edu).

Arguments for Pirated Movies

Pirated movie act as a means of promotion. They help spread the word about the movie. This is much in the same way that theaters do. Some people actually only buy movies that they have seen. There is always the apprehension individuals have when it comes to buying movies. What if the movie turns to be bad? What if the movie you buy is not what you expected? What if the trailer oversold the movie? These are questions movie buyers and moviegoers ask. it can be frustrating to buy a movie a and find it a waste of time. From this point of view, some people download movies illegally then get a legitimate copy after confirming that it is what they had hoped for.

Revenues lost through piracy at an indication of the potential market that the movie makers are missing out on due to a number of factors. These factors are cost, accessibility, and availability. It gives the movie makers a segment to work on. As a matter of fact, some software manufacturers have abandoned the whole concept of pursuing pirates and focused on promoting the software effectively to convert the pirates into revenue earned.

Thirdly, pirated movie proponents claim that art should be freely shareable without restrictions. However, everyone should respect the artists work and not alter it n a manner that shall deprive the artists of the credit. From this perspective, the proponents argue that sharing the content is fine but altering it or taking credit for it unlawfully is the real crime (Debate.org).

What can be Done

There are several things that can be done to curb piracy. Some of the methods are persuasive while others are harsh. The persuasive methods involve better advertising methods and civil education initiatives. Additionally, there are methods such as the three strikes method of the United States of America. The harsh methods involve hunting down the offenders with the help of ISP’s and law enforcement agencies.

Conclusion

Copyright infringement in its various forms is harmful to the owners of the content. It deprives them of the rights associated with their works such as revenue and recognition as the lawful distributor. However, it also shows the potential market that the artists are missing out on. The pirates are essentially people who are interested in the content but can somehow not access it easily. It is important for the artist to understand the various dynamics that surround this matter and then decide on the method to use. I am of the opinion that pirated movies are not bad intrinsically. As long as an individual does not claim to take credit for another individual’s work, they can enjoy it and share it freely.

Works Cited

Cs.stanford.edu. The Ethics of Piracy. 28 January 2017

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Debate.org. Should piracy be legal? 2017. 28 January 2017

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Geddes, James. Kickass Torrents Return: Pirate Bay, ExtraTorrent, Rarbg, Torrentz2, 1337x

Stay Top Sites As KAT Falters, Here’s Why. 25 January 2017. 28 January 2017 .