MPAA Claims That Anti-Camcording Effort Made People Go See Spider-Man 3?

from the logic?--in-la-la-land,-we-don't-need-logic... dept

Fri, May 18th 2007 6:42pm — Mike Masnick

We know that the MPAA is really into trying to stop camcording of movies these days, even though it's a tiny (and shrinking) problem for the industry, but it's really a bit bizarre to hear MPAA chief Dan Glickman claim with a straight face that it's because of these anti-camcording efforts that Spider-Man 3 had such a huge opening. For the type of fans who go out to see such a movie on opening weekend, the download isn't a substitute. If anything, it's a complement. Just like when the last Star Wars film came out, fans download the movie, but still want to enjoy the experience of seeing it in the theater with a huge group of other fans. Plus, of course, basic logic should tell you that the camcording crackdown had nothing to do with the large opening. Whoever was doing the camcording couldn't have done it until the movie opened anyway. On top of that, as soon as one decent camcorded version made it to the net (as at least a few did), then it's infinitely available and it doesn't really matter if the industry stopped every other camcording attempt. However, this is the MPAA we're talking about, and if they can't get their math right, I guess it's no surprise that their logic skills are weak as well.

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44 Comments

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Mark, 18 May 2007 @ 7:11pm

Audible Sigh
I've viewed some of the big movies that were recorded via cam in a theater. Due to the 20 minutes I watched of each of the movies, I'm glad I didn't pay to see them on the big screen.

I know my taste doesn't speak for all, but there have been some shite "big" movies the past 7 years.
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News Flash, 18 May 2007 @ 7:23pm

gee, it couldn't be the months of hype behind it or the huge following that spiderman had from the decades of cartoons/comic books and the first two movies.
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Anonymous Poster (profile), 18 May 2007 @ 7:24pm

Okay, between this and movies getting an automatic R rating if there's smoking in it, the MPAA is proving themselves to be one of the absolutely dumbest organizations in existence.
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Julie, 18 May 2007 @ 7:26pm

I'll have what they're having!
I want to live in the same fantasy world as the clowns in charge of anti-piracy efforts at the MPAA and the RIAA! If the movie doesn't suck, I'll pay the twelve bucks to go see it in the theater. Movie tickets and DVD rentals are cheap enough that I don't need to endure watching a third-rate camcordered copy of a movie.

And Mark was right. Most of the so-called hit movies of the last decade have been real shite and not worth the price of admission. Make some good movies and the customers will line up at the movie house door. Or you can keep dishing us out horse trailer crap and then keep whining about movie pirates.
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dink, 18 May 2007 @ 7:38pm

nice...
Thats a good one. What's better, *most* Americans believe anything companies tell them. Just listen to any older person talk about how much safer traveling is now due to 9/11. And the exec's at Enron didn't do ANYTHING wrong with millions of Americans money... Everyone believes everything, until it gets so big its impossible to believe it anymore. Unfortunately in this case, these stories never get big enough to change the general publics mind...and the MPAA will continue to assume everyone is with them.

P.S. Spider-Man 3 wasn't anything to write home about. I was forced to see opening weekend because my girlfriend liked the series. It was decent, but not 150million good. It was a huge success, in my opinion, because there weren't any other blockbuster movies out at the time, not because it was such a awesome movie.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 7:40pm

Single most stupid claim that could have been made ... has been made.

No wonder MPAA acts like a bunch of drunk monkeys ..
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 7:48pm

I don't know of a single person who enjoys watching a cam-corded movie. Sound quality = the suck. Picture quality = the suck. It's hardly worth downloading and watching because you can't get it to a decent resolution to play on your TV or projector.

Plus you pick up all the ambient noise like cell phones ringing and audience members coughing.

Some times I think the MPAA is way out of touch with reality. Maybe next week they'll come out with the discovery that the earth is the center of the universe.
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Anonymous Nerd, 18 May 2007 @ 8:00pm

huh that's interesting to hear
MPAA says that anti-camcording boosted SM3 ticket sales?

Yet I was able to watch a good version of SM3 on the internet within 12hours of it's theatrical release....

Maybe the big ticket sales could have something to do with the fact that everybody is calling this movie the BEST of the trilogy? I mean come on.. VENOM WAS IN THE MOVIE, why wouldn't people go. That IS Spiderman... Venom!

I love stupid people....
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 8:01pm

It makes no difference what the MPAA really believes, or even what the "people" believe.

The only thing that matters is what the MPAA can fool the lawmakers into believing, and they are easily fooled and cheaply bought.
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raffytaffy, 18 May 2007 @ 8:19pm

Woof WOof
where is the mighty MPAA dogs lucky and Flo.
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Vincent Clement (profile), 18 May 2007 @ 8:47pm

Not a single camcorder copy of Spider-Man 3 was recorded in Canada, the supposed centre of camcorder copying.
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Fluffy McNutter, 18 May 2007 @ 9:08pm

The context is very very odd and out of place.
This is probably the weirdest article I've read in a long time. It makes me question the underlying motives of the release.

I am going to guess that this was just a part of some sort of leveraged strategy on MPAAs part. It seemed like this was more of a public "Thank you" to whoever helped get that camming law passed.

The MPAA must be getting ready to make another ask. In any case, grab your knees, and get ready to loose more consumer rights!

-fmn
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Anonymous Poster (profile), 18 May 2007 @ 9:08pm

Re: Woof WOof
Busy sniffing each other's butts, I'd assume.
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A chicken passeth by, 18 May 2007 @ 9:47pm

See, guys? The minute you legitly support them, you give them another anti-pirate excuse. We lose weather we're clean or not. >_>
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dsterbd, 18 May 2007 @ 10:23pm

f the cam corded movies
f the camcorder movie version, I usually just download the high quality version before the movie hits the big screens. Why would I wait for someone to make a crappy camcorder version after the movie is already out???? seems pretty stupid to me, kind of like the MPAA. Do they really think people still watch cam-corded movies? Do they really think their own movies suck so bad that the only way people will go and watch them is if they crack down on the two people who still try to cam cord them? Im sure the good turn out has nothing to do with the quality of the movie and all of the people who really want to see it in theaters. movie turn out is obviously directly proportional to the amount of people cam cording it. That must be why people don't go see really sucky movies, because more people must cam-cord those. As usual, Great Job MPAA you all are some real smart m***** f******!!!!!!
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camwhat, 18 May 2007 @ 10:31pm

say what??
the rest of the people who do not waste their money in crappy theaters to see crappy movies just wait for them to come out on net-flix and rip'em from there. we dont watch cam corder movies anymore, especially since we can rip HD now! thank you MPAA, you rock!
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Ric, 18 May 2007 @ 10:46pm

Also, these laws basically throw the 4th amendment out the window...not that it exists anymore anyway.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2007 @ 2:17am

Wtf are you talking about Ric?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

That basically says you can't be searched in your home if they don't have a good reason. It has literaly nothing to do with camcorders and movies.
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Pir8 Wench, 19 May 2007 @ 4:19am

To those claiming cams are dead, I beg to differ. I still dl cams regularly along with many thousands of other pirates (to say nothing of the millions getting them on DVD in Asia -- they don't just use high quality dvd rips you know). I don't care about the quality, I care about free. I want everything, I want it free, and I want it now. 0-day. 0-sec. Theater experience? Pft. Sticky floors, talking, cell phones, babies whining, the sound way too loud... no thanks. I'd rather get a shitty cam and watch free, with a few muffled sounds that get through on the recording. If I want a social experience, I'll go to a party or a bar.
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CamFan, 19 May 2007 @ 7:48am

Re: Audible Sigh
Did it ever occur to you that part of the negative experience you had with those movies might have been the result of seeing a camcorder copy? Movies, even "shite" ones, always present better on the full size screen.

The size doesn't necessarily make them better, but clearly, viewing a film meant to be shown on a 40ft wide screen, taped by someone holding a camcorder under his arm is hardly going to provide the same experience.
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Nurse, 19 May 2007 @ 7:52am

Re:
You must enjoy masturbating more than real sex then. It's free, and you can do it by yourself.
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SimonTek (profile), 19 May 2007 @ 8:27am

LA
If you goto the corner of Wishire, and Vermont in Korea Town/Los Angeles, You can buy a copy of Spiderman 3 for $5. They have been selling it since 2 days before the movie came out.
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Michael Long, 19 May 2007 @ 8:48am

IMAX
I saw SM3 on a IMAX and let me tell you THAT is a movie experience. Great movie, great seats, great sound, and a HUGE screen. Provide more of those and people will fill the seats.

Stick people in shoeboxes with screens that seem scarcely larger than those in their home theater... and they won't.
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Tashi, 19 May 2007 @ 10:04am

I downloaded Spiderman 3 a couple weeks before it came out, and I went to see it on the big screen anyway. The MPAA just doesn't get it.

BTW, I was in SE Asia in 1998 and yeah the DVDs were questionable. Low light, crap sound. But in those 9 years, some, not all mind you reproduce copies with some pretty damn stunning clarity. I have one guy I go to regularly and he hasn't let me down in 4 years. He guarantees his dvds. If I ever have a problem I can return them, which Best Buy or others won't even do. BTW none of my friends, not a single one buys legitimate dvds in Asia. They are 100% pirated.

But here's the thing. I'm not a fan of piracy. I'm a fan of movies. That's what the MPAA doesn't get. If I had around $30 grand lying around I'd tear up my basement and put in a mini theatre. One day I will. But until then I have to put up with theatres to get a real theatre experience. So instead of worrying about piracy, how about putting your heads together with stuios and theatre chains on how to create a better movie going experience and get me in there more often. Disney theme parks has a 70% retention rate. 70%! They have an extremely anal focus on customer service and attention to detail. Take a clue from Disney's playbook instead of just looking at the bottom line and lining your own pockets with an outdated business model.

FYI, by the time the Venom comics came out I stopped reading Spiderman. So I was into Spiderman way before Venom. They went to that storyline too soon IMHO. Yeah everybody was clamoring for Venom, but there's Shocker, Scorpian, Kraven the Hunter, Medusa, Blackcat, etc. etc. Spiderman existed way before Venom, and Venom being in the movie didn't fix all the problems with it. It's not a bad movie by any means, but best in the series? I'd say it's the worst. But I'd still pay to see it, even after the fact.

My last point. I've dabbled in filmmaking. It is a bloated overpriced process. Hollywood could easily reduce the cost of making movies, even blockbusters like Spiderman IF they really wanted to.
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Paul, 19 May 2007 @ 11:20am

Back it up
Can you back up your statement about "camming" being a "shrinking problem" or are you just talking out of your ass as always?
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Buzz, 19 May 2007 @ 11:34am

LOL!
I knew very well that I could pirate the entire movie probably within 24 hours of its release (or maybe even before it was released). However, the experience of going to the theater with my wife/friends and seeing the movie on a big screen with good sound blows piracy out of the water.

Paul, there is plenty of evidence to back up that claim. Back in the day, many people took camcorders in order to increase the distribution rate in various regions of the country. Now, many movie pirates have retired since the Internet propagates one good copy to the whole world via YouTube and various torrent sites. I suggest you show us evidence that theater movie recording is in fact a growing problem.
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chucklebutte, 19 May 2007 @ 1:42pm

movies
movies and movie theaters just bite period the movies are shit and the experience is shit

id rather milk a black man than go watch a movie in a theater

thank you MPAA for making me make hard choices
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Mike (profile), 19 May 2007 @ 1:55pm

Re: Back it up
Hi Paul,

Always nice to hear from you, as you always post something vehemently anti-Techdirt.

Can you back up your statement about "camming" being a "shrinking problem" or are you just talking out of your ass as always?

We pointed earlier to research about how camcorded movies are increasingly a minor issue, as most leaks that you find online are actually leaks from insiders at the studios. I'll let you do the search for it, since you seem to like hanging out here so much...
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PopeRatzo, 19 May 2007 @ 4:14pm

Every summer blockbuster season, I hope this is the year we get one step closer to a total collapse of the entertainment industry. If it takes China and a bunch of teenage pirates to take it down, so be it.

If Hollywood never makes another massive special effects extravaganza, I won't shed a single tear.

The innovators, the creative people, will figure out a way to get their work before an audience, and they'll figure out how to get paid for it. The current system is so out of whack that nothing can save it. Anybody who's old enough to remember the great independent movies of the 70s can tell you that the Age of the Blockbuster hasn't brought us better movies, just more expensive disappointments. Like the music industry, Hollywood cannot be saved.
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rony, 19 May 2007 @ 5:05pm

THATS JUST CRAP
well .... that must have been a terrible effort
just google it and you will get the results
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whatever pir8wench, 19 May 2007 @ 5:10pm

Re: U dont get it
why would you donwload a shitty cam copy, where there is almost always a higher quality copy available of the same movie?? I guess it makes sense if you really like shitty quality in general. or maybe since you seem kind of cheap,and are just concerned about "free" it makes sense you probably have dial up, so maybe it is because you can get the shitty cam copy downloaded faster over 56Kbps?? camcopys are dead or at least really dying.... sorry.
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blar, 19 May 2007 @ 11:22pm

Re: Audible Sigh
Well, yes. I rarely, if at all, go to the movie theatre anymore. It's all garbage (and usually rehashed garbage). The modern horror movies are plagued with rehashing and garbage trends, for example.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 May 2007 @ 3:41am

Re: Re: Audible Sigh
Oh please,

That's that stupidest logic I've heard in qutie a while, do you work for the MPAA?

If a film is shit the screen it's shown on will not impact me. It might impact people like you who seem to be swayed by the pretty lights.

Idiot.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 May 2007 @ 3:48am

Re: Re: U dont get it
"Why would you donwload a shitty cam copy, where there is almost always a higher quality copy available of the same movie"

People are retards if they think cam jobs are the ONLY releases. There are often DVD screeners, both DIVX rips or full DVD rips plus a shit load of other copies varying in quality.

I think this myth is perpetuated by the MPAA and the masses suck it up their arseholes like God told them it was true.

Idiots.
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mj., 20 May 2007 @ 4:00am

why did spider man change into the black spider man.
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mj., 20 May 2007 @ 4:00am

why did spider man change into the black spider man.
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whos there?, 20 May 2007 @ 10:40am

Re: to mj
I dont know, why did the spider man change into the black spider man?
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billybob, 20 May 2007 @ 11:01am

Re: Re: Audible Sigh
I disagree, at least you can turn a shite movie off if it's in your own home, rather than being stuck inside a cinema having been ripped off.
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elgeebar, 20 May 2007 @ 6:57pm

Re:
Don't be silly, the earth isn't the centre of the universe... the MPAA is!
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RandomThoughts, 20 May 2007 @ 7:38pm

OK, out with the puchline, why did Spiderman change into the black spider man?

Camcording the movie might be shrinking, but that doesn't mean that pirating is getting any better (or worse, depending on your point of view.)
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Wizard Prang, 21 May 2007 @ 7:14am

So what you are saying is...
...that people are two stupid to tell the difference and make allowances for it?

FWIW I have never seen a camcorder-copy of a movie, now has anyone I know admitted to having or seeing one. So from where I am standing this is a storm in a teacup.
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Wizard Prang, 21 May 2007 @ 7:18am

Got it in one
I downloaded Spiderman 3 a couple weeks before it came out, and I went to see it on the big screen anyway.

You just destroyed the MPAA's argument with that one sentence.

Thank you.
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SailorRipley, 21 May 2007 @ 12:57pm

Re: Re: Re: U dont get it
(Disclaimer: in general, I pay for stuff I watch, either by going to the theater or by renting/buying the DVD)

It's convenient to be an AC when you're talking out of your ass...

People are retards if they think cam jobs are the ONLY releases

"Cam jobs" usually are the only releases when a movie hits the theaters, it's only later on, closer to the DVD release, that DVD screeners, (closely followed by the full retail DVD) become available.

The only accurate part of your post is that said (later) releases are available as full DVD rips. The vast majority is also available as XviD rips, not as DIVX.

Idiots.

The feeling is very mutual
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Donald Twain, 22 May 2007 @ 8:17am

Jolly Rogered!
Well, I got a perfect copy of Spiderman 3 before it came out. Ahhaaar! Pieces of eight? Not for ye, shitty mass media companies!
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