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Canadian Movie Piracy Claims Mostly Fiction?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the i-never-would-have-guessed dept.

Justin Primus writes "Michael Geist's weekly column dismantles recent claims that Canada is the world's leading movie piracy haven. The article uses the industry's own data to demonstrate that the assertions about movie bootlegging and its economic impact are greatly exaggerated and that the MPAA's arguments about Canadian copyright law are misleading. I particularly liked how Geist dug up the fact that the MPAA itself says that there have only been 179 movies recorded with a camcorder over the past three years out of the 1,400 that the Hollywood studios released."

10 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Broken Record by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why does anyone believe these unaccountable, selfserving "stats" released by the notoriously lying, litigious, abusive RIAA? We don't make gas mileage requirements taking oil companies' reports as gospel, except when "we" are really screwing "ourselves".

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    make install -not war

  2. Shrink rate by Skadet · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I'll probably get modded down for this, but. . . .

    I particularly liked how Geist dug up the fact that the MPAA itself says that there have only been 179 movies recorded with a camcorder over the past three years out of the 1,400 that the Hollywood studios released."
    You can't be serious. That's 11% of theatrical releases! Could you imagine if a retail store had an 11% shrink rate? (Hint for those unfamiliar with retail: 11% is head-rolling territory).

    Look, I disagree with the RIAA as much as the next /.'er. But this statistic simply doesn't prove what the author was hoping to prove.
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    Sony ha
    1. Re:Shrink rate by digidave · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's not necessarily 11%.

      Where does the number 179 come from? Is that the number of arrests made? If so, then that's 179 out of however many million Canadians went to see those 1400 movies. Or maybe that's 179 releases made from camcorders in Canadian theatres, in which case all 179 might have come from one person or a small group of people. Maybe 179 incidents only accounts for ten movies with multiple recording attemps done for those movies.

      It's like if you analyzed a large chain store and found that 11% of all the individual items they sold were stolen somewhere within the chain. Maybe only one of each item was stolen, meaning on average less than one per store, but somehow you end up with a bogus 11% shrink rate because you don't know how to work the numbers properly (or because you do and you are dishonest).

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      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    2. Re:Shrink rate by AJWM · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's 11% of theatrical releases! Could you imagine if a retail store had an 11% shrink rate?

      Faulty comparison. For that to be valid, then after somebody camcords a movie, nobody pays ticket price any more. Taking something off a retail store shelf makes that particular item unavailable for anyone else to buy, so it is a real loss. A cam copy may cut in to movie ticket sales slightly, but it doesn't make the movie no longer available in the theatre.

      You'd have a somewhat better comparison (although still flawed) if pirates were holding up the theatres and stealing the reels of film.

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      -- Alastair
  3. The reality is... by Bullfish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The MPAA knows the claim is bogus... like the RIAA lobbying to try to alter Canada's copyright provisions to suit them, this is just trying to sow seeds to try to get the copyright laws changed to suit the MPAA. Seriously, anyone who does download movies knows the camcorder rips are the worst of the lot... it's the studio prints that are desireable... and where do those come from?... It's all just PR (or propaganda if you will) designed to try to further their aims... and to borrow a line from another topic... this ploy is not intelligently designed...

    You want to know why ticket sales are down... Ask yourself this...What is the last movies that you just had to see?

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. FYI clarrification by edwardpickman · · Score: 3, Insightful
    there have only been 179 movies recorded with a camcorder over the past three years out of the 1,400 that the Hollywood studios released.

    That technique is just one of the methods and is arguably the worst way to pirate. A lot of films get bootlegged during post production and often show up before the film is released in theaters. Waterworld showed up in Russia as this chaotic mix of dailies and some cut scenes, not that the final release was much better. The most popular way to pirate has to be ripped DVDs. My friends in distribution call them $20 masters. You buy one copy and use it as a master recording. I shot a couple of low budget films and my distributor told me he saw bootlegs selling for a $1 in Malaysia right next to 100 mill Hollywood films also selling for $1. There is no market in South East Asia for domestic films, they're all pirated and sold openly. I think you'll find there are pirates of every film made. Pirating is largely free and if they are reselling the pirates DVDs are cheap to burn.

  6. Served its purpose... by debest · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The movie industry made a big deal out of this simply to get some good headlines. Geist's expected hatchet job on its "facts" are beside the point. Virtually no one will hear it: only those already tuned in to the lies are reading Geist's columns.

    The purpose of the hype was to provide "justification" for Bev Oda to push for the reforms that she and the content industry have been working on. If this goes as I expect, watch for some more sabre-rattling headlines to come, followed quickly by a copyright reform bill that will address the content industry's wish list.

    As much as I don't want another election, I hope the Conservatives' upcoming budget is defeated, so that any of Oda's bills will die on the table when the government falls.

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    Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
    1. Re:Served its purpose... by canfirman · · Score: 3, Insightful
      As much as I don't want another election, I hope the Conservatives' upcoming budget is defeated, so that any of Oda's bills will die on the table when the government falls.

      The problem is that if it isn't Oda, it'll be somebody else. The movie and music industries will just turn their attention to the next Heritage Minister. No matter what political party is in power, the movie and music industry will always shmooze with the government to get their way.

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      It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices.
  7. Re:Flawed Stats by Jesus_666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You: Can I have your raw data and methods please?
    MPAA: No, because of privacy concerns.
    You: Ah, well, then you can surely give me the samples you worked with?
    MPAA: No, those are private as well. As are our methods.
    You: Can I at least see the results?
    MPAA: No, those are especially private.
    You: Well, what can you give me?
    MPAA: Nothing. There never was a statistic. These are not the droids you are looking for. We're not here. *hides behind a tree*

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    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)