New Zealand Media Claiming That Huge Local Film Success Story Is Being Harmed... By 200 Downloaders?
from the say-what-now? dept
Reader Matt Perryman points us to a bizarre story down in New Zealand, which he claims is all over the news. Apparently, a local movie, called Boy, has been a huge success -- having the third most successful box office of a New Zealand film ever. Not bad, right? But, months after the film has been out in the theaters, it's now been leaked to the internet, and suddenly the media frenzy is about just how much this is "costing" the filmmakers. No evidence (at all), is presented. They just claim that a leak like this will cost a million dollars. Even more amusing, at the time these reports came out, they said that the movie had only been downloaded 200 times. But, if you look at the comments on that article, a ton of them are thanking the publications for letting everyone know the movie was available for download. Of course, many of the commenters are also pointing out that they don't live in New Zealand, and there was no way for them to see the movie otherwise... meaning that those downloads aren't losses at all. But, it seems the reporters never bothered to mention that rather important fact.
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Filed Under: copyright, downloads, losses, movies, new zealand
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Just like your post about an expired patent holding back research. Pot meet Kettle.
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Douche meet Bag.
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What about Myriad using patents to hold back breast cancer research?
What about the Patents on Oil Eating Bacteria, holding back research on ways to utilize them?
What about the company StemCells using patents to stop a Children's Hospital from researching Brain Cancer for 3 years?
How about the concerns about Craig Vetner's pantent for sythetic biology, and the delays it will cause for research?
Or take a look at MPEG-LA's use of patents to hold back an open standard for Video?
Take a look at the Smartphone patent thicket, and see how fast research can be done for improving that industry?
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But smartphones make incredible progress quarter to quarter, with the patent system alive and kicking? Phones from November 2009 are quite outdated already.
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This is exactly what I'm talking about. Where is the evidence (other than on techdirt, which is not evidence but opinion)?
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best comment on the article:
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Re: best comment on the article:
here's the comment:
Thanx, A 9, V 10 will seed till 1:1 ratio
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Re: Re: best comment on the article:
V10 A10 needs subtitles"
PIRATEBAY.COM. for the win.
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Choice of story....
Yes, many of the downloads are outside of New Zealand and are therefore only going to increase the demand for the movie.
Yes, it had only been downloaded 200 times.
But that doesn't drive site hits. The author of the article is most likely trying to get as many eyes on the story as possible. Going to the extremes of what the facts can support is what a lot of journalists do in an attempt to drive more traffic (not even an attempt to drive an agenda). Lots of news sites do this with even more mundane things like sports, where the emotions are already charged. Ignoring these facts is probably bad journalism, but in a world where people want bad journalism, journalists write poorly supported pieces.
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Re: Choice of story....
What facts?
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just for clarity, there is no indication that 200 file downloads cost 1 million, only that previous movie leaks have caused that type of damage. considering the movie might have a future overseas, that future might be hurt or lost if the movie ends up widely distributed online for free. distributors might not be interested in putting up the time and money to promote or distribute a film that is already widely available for free.
thanks to piracy, those of us who might have enjoyed this movie some time in the future are unlikely to get the chance, unless we too choose to "borrow" a copy from the internet. perhaps more than anything, this is perfect example of the damages done, especially to smaller movie makers.
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Please site a case that stands to scientific standards and reason (not one the GAO has said uses no solid science) that shows even a causal effect of this magnitude for any movie. I am unaware of any at all and I'd love to see them.
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as for the use of the word "might" in my post, unlike mike i am not going to claim to be all seeing and all knowing, and i am surely not going to state as fact the complex things that go on with a download. there continues to be no causal evidence linking downloads of a movie and increased sales of that particular movie. if anything, ever download is removing a potential customer from the pool.
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Yeah. Good thought. Except...you constantly support the industry's wasteful and misguided attempts to "put it back away."
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you really can't argue with the math. it's mathematical.
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Where your evidence?
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just for clarity, a lot of movies made in the last 5 years have leaked to the internet even before they hit the theater. that hasn't stopped any one movie from going to the theater or from being put out on dvd. studios will get money from the release no matter what happens on the file sharing sites.
thanks to piracy, those of us who had never heard of this movie have definitely heard of it now. the publicity the movie gets from this will make sure it gets seen by a wider audience. perhaps more than anything, this is a perfect example of the promotional value of file sharing.
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if the movies had tanked in the market as a result, the distributor probably had a way out, because a short time before a movie is released, the distributor is already contractually bound. here we are talking about a movie with a small market potential, and no signed distributors outside of their home country. sort of a different situation, no?
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Similarly, if people had not been able to preview the movie, would less people had paid to see it in IMAX or bought a DVD?
Morons like yourself only consider one part of the equation. The rest of us recognise that it's more complicated and that people actually buy things after seeing, say, a TV broadcast or a borrowed DVD.
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I routinely have either watched movies in the theater or on T.V. and later purchased them because I like owning them. To me, trying to wade through all the crap illegal content out there to find a decent copy of something isn't not a good use of my time so I tend to buy what i'm looking for instead. I look at it more in a my time equals 'x' and if trying to find stuff online or in a digital medium takes greater than 'y' i've essentially wasted my talents.
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Can you say publicity leak?
I think the only chance they would find out so promptly and announce it so loudly is if they posted it themselves. 200 downloads at the time of printing? It just stinks of a publicity plant.
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they feel left out..
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Two Things -
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not making a million dollars is the same as losing a million dollars, just like standing still is the same thing as walking backwards.
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Let me fix that for you Hollywood style:
making a 500 million dollars is the same as losing 500 million dollars, just like standing still is the same thing as walking backwards and this movie lost 500 million dollars and funded the following:
terrorist
organised crime
prostitution
paedophiles
communists
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Let me fix that for you Hollywood style:
making a 500 million dollars is the same as losing 500 million dollars, just like standing still is the same thing as walking backwards and this movie lost 500 million dollars and funded the following:
terrorist
organised crime
prostitution
paedophiles
communists
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The biggest success of the local movies was leaked 2 months before the theaters showed. It was a huge success (and was a cheap movie, actually).
But the media blamed the 'piracy' to some reason that no one really understands. The movie was the biggest success in the brazilian history and, problably, if nobody downloaded the movie, would be a giant fiasco - since there wasn't a big producer or a big budget for ads.
(sorry about the english.)
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Yes, it's akin to busking on a street corner, but it can net you some income. And 1 donated dollar is better than nothing.
But free publicity is also worth something I'd say. I could say that I would like a buck from the movie company for pirating their movie, as I help promote their wares by downloading it. Any idea how expensive an ad-campaign would be?
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nah, that sounds like work and might require the use of the internet.
bawwwwing about piracy is much easier.
Yes, it's akin to busking on a street corner...
which is something that "unknowns" do before they become big time producers.
when you are a big time producer you don't ask for money, people just give it to you, because you deserve it for being a big time producer.
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they aint hte only ones
The fat heads interview on Cambell made him look like the bad guy from Alvin and the Chipmunks, without hte talent or the fuzzy animals.
that just leaves a retarded scammer
oh, and Perryman is a drunken mexican
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One of the local news shows did interview the director, and he was actually moderate about the whole thing. He said he expected it would happen and in some ways was flattered that people wanted to see the film.
It's NZFACT making the usual garbage claims, and we have few if any public outlets down here to rebuke them, so the "millions of dollars in losses" are just thrown out like an absolute truth.
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http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/againstfinal.htm
That's what it looks like when you cite real evidence, instead of making up numbers.
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