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Piracy 'Warnings' Fail To Boost Box Office Revenues, Research Says (torrentfreak.com)
A new academic study shows that graduated response policies against file-sharers fail to boost box office revenues. From a TorrentFreak report: The empirical research, which looked at the effects in various countries including the United States, suggests that these anti-piracy measures are not as effective as the movie studios had hoped. [...] Thus far there has been very little research on the topic but a new study, published by Dr. Jordi McKenzie of Sydney's Macquarie University, suggests that these "strikes" policies don't boost box office revenues. For his paper, published in the most recent issue of the journal 'Information Economics and Policy,' McKenzie looked at opening week and total box office revenues for 6,083 unique films released between 2005 and 2013. Using a variety of statistical analyses, he then measured the impact of the graduated response systems and related policies in six countries. In addition, another ten countries were included as a control measure. The overall conclusion based on thousands of data points is that these anti-piracy policies have no significant impact on box-office income.
Hollywood is enjoying a streak of box office highs for the past several years.
In short, "piracy" isn't touching their bottom line. If anything, the ability to share these movies and the associated emotions has increased it.
Word of mouth as the best form of advertisement. Who wouldda thunk it?
Preventing people from getting your movies for free does not in fact make them better able to afford your movies, or make it seem more worth it to those who can.
If you are going to the movies. It is often because.
1. You are excited to see it and really do not want to wait for it.
2. You would want to see it in a large screen, quality speakers, perhaps 3d.
3. You want a reason to leave your home, and perhaps with other people.
If you are excited to see the movie. There isn't any real rush to pirate it. This no rush means it may be available at higher quality vs legit streaming channels, or DVD/Blueray rentals (say from RedBox) for a few bucks.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
crosswalks routinely disregarded by pedestrians in a hurry
turn signals almost never used 100 feet from an intersection
dad still refuses to buckle his seatbelt, "that damn plastic liberal conspiracy killed Dale Earnhardt" he insists.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Hollywood movies are so terribly dull & stupid these days that nobody with enough brains to be able to use a computer has any interest in watching them.
How many CGI cartoons can someone watch before theyre sick to death of super hero fantasies?
Hollywoods current target audience is so brain-dead theyre lucky if they can figure out how to use redbox.
99% of movies has the same schema portrayed in various backdrops & settings, you have a protagonist battling an antagonist over either a princess or a treasure, and that is what movies are, it is the same old shit over & over & over again, it never changes and people are not wanting to spend money to see the same old schema with just different costumes
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
They make people realize they don't care for giving these assholes money, and the warnings are a reminders to simply no go to the movies at all.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
"Using a variety of statistical analyses, he then measured the impact of the graduated response systems and related policies in six countries."
Did he measure the QUALITY of the films involved?
It's because pirates weren't customers to begin with. With out piracy the alternative to 99% of people pirating is just not seeing the movie.
the xeo gets it all like 180 million some get meanwhile we get min wage and hollywood whines about piracy
The not so subtle suggestion you think a large portion of your patrons are no good criminals or ignorant boobs that need to be lectured at over and over again does not make them want to cooperate or cause them to embrace your way of thinking?
Wow I am totally shocked! Maybe if they were a little less in your face about it, did not threaten you jail they'd get more buy in. That and they need to stop pushing the obviously false equivalence with physical theft. Only the most radical intellectual property proponents consider that remotely equivalent. They'd find a lot more allies among the general public if they stopped clutching the pearls quite so hard. Many people myself included agree we need some copyright and intellectual property protections. Where we don't and won't agree is that it has to be FOREVER or that we need armed FBI shock troops kicking in doors and shooting peoples dogs because they copied a DVD once. Which I realize does not happen in minor cases like that but you'd sure imagine that it does after watching some of those piracy warnings and propaganda shorts they put in front of movies now.
I don't know about others but the response those things engender in me is, "These guys are nasty bullies, I don't like bullies so I don't care what happens to them, best of luck to pirates." Which is a simplistic, non intellectual response that when I sit down and think about the issues careful I realize isn't really right, but they are making an emotional appeal and so they trigger an emotional reaction; just not the one they want.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
I know people who pirate movies all the time and have yet to receive any warnings. And while watching movies they never see those stupid "You wouldn't download a car?!" clips or FBI warnings people talk about either.
Thanks. Now I have that damn song stuck in my head.
Worthless... like a quickly crafted A4 sized poster that says "Don't drink and drive" posted on the door to a local bar and thinking "That'll stop those pesky drunk drivers. Mission accomplished."
If you want me to go to the movie theatre then do two things. Improve the whole theatre experience and make better movies.
I got tired of people talking and using their cell phones during movies. Granted that this really isn't the movie industry's fault as it's people being inconsiderate. We don't need a technological solution such as something to kill the cell signal. Just have it so that the movie studio pays for someone to be in the audience looking out for disruptive people. The usher would then go and have a quiet word with them reminding them to be nice. It works for all cases (people talking, texting, playing a game on the phone, etc) and if someone refuses they can be removed by calling security. (Of course the theatre company would have to have the balls to implement this.). Another thing I hate is the pile of ads and previews that are shown when the movie is supposed to start. I paid to see the movie, not 15 or 20 minutes of ads. (This goes for buying movies and TV shows too, especially the FBI warning on pirating. I've bought the show so don't force me to sit through a message on the evils of pirating every time I put the disc in the player.)
The other reason I don't go to the movies is that there aren't really any movies worth going out to see, or even to download. Hollywoods idea of a great movie is one that has more explosions. I want a great story that makes me think. How about something original?
To me that is the biggest reason not to enter a theater. If a get a phone call I want to pause, if I want to pee I want to pause. And I enjoy my beer which is not served in the vast majority of theaters. Theaters are designed for those who who are willing to follow rules, and the sooner they die the better.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
On the other hand, Piracy warnings seem to have been correlated with a notable increase in interest in Downloadable Cars.
The thing about Hollywood movies is, more and more I can't even be bothered to watch most of them when they are free, never mind the trouble of going to the theater or wasting bandwidth downloading them...
The theaters have done what they can with things like having theaters that have assigned seats and comfortable roomy chairs. But it doesn't matter how great the room is, if the movie stinks why would I go?
I don't know what it would take for movie studios to start producing interesting and original work again. Maybe they should ask Netflix how it's done...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If authorizing DRM were to cause a work to immediately and irrevocably fall into PD, and also result in prison time for whoever holds the copyright, then DRM would go away overnight.
And once you stop turning away paying customers, more of them will pay. (If paying customers aren't right, then you aren't running a real business.)
Some people might continue pirating after that, but they're totally irrelevant and were never going to pay anyway. The key is to stop turning away all the people who want to pay. Those pirates are creators' worst problem, and it's a problem of their making. STOP SAYING NO TO CUSTOMERS. Every business eventually has to learn that simple lesson.
It has to be something I can't wait to watch, and that only happens about once every 5 years or so.
At home I have a big ass TV, surround sound and I can pause and get up and get a beer from the fridge, and maybe make some more popcorn without missing anything. No queues, assholes on their cellphones or giggling teenagers either. Then there is the cost factor, the last time I went to watch a movie the popcorn and drinks cost more than the movie tickets (and it was a 3D movie). To be honest cost is not that big a deal, I earn more than enough money to absorb it, but I don't like being ripped off. Where I live the streaming available is limited, so I still end up having to pirate, I wouldn't if I didn't have to, but since it's the only way to watch certain things...
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Purists will be the death of theaters in the end. People want to pause movies when the paused, and have their phones turned on when they want them on. Such simple mundane everyday things irritate those who would dictate others behavior to please their own. The sooner dictatorial theaters die, the better.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
If you go to the theater to see a movie it is because you REALLY want to see it.
No, it's for one of two reasons. It's a movie I want to see ON A BIG SCREEN and/or I'm going to the movie theater because I'm on a date. There are no other reasons. You go to a theater because the can provide an experience I cannot get at home. Theaters provide that - a huge screen and a great sound system at minimum. Often they have other amenities as well. If my only goal was merely to watch the movie then there would never be a reason to go to the theater.
Screaming kids, people getting up and squeezing out through the row of seats, and then back again later, and cell phones, and people talking, and telling their life story, along with narrating the film, people kicking the back of your seat, throwing popcorn . . .
You need to find yourself a better theater mate. None of that describes the experience I've had in any movie theater in recent memory. Once in a while someone gets up - not a big deal. I've never had anyone kick the back of my seat. I can't remember the last time someone talked loud enough for me to care during the movie. Certainly no screaming kids and the few times I've seen little kids get fussy the parents hustled them out quickly enough. I've never seen anyone throwing popcorn. Most people are pretty respectful and are just there to have a good time. You have a vision of theaters that is disconnected from the reality of them.
Since they've broke the record of 11.4 billion in 2016, which beat the record of 11.1 billion in 2015, I think they are doing OK, even not BETTER because of piracy.
Founder of Securityflaw Creator of
Consumers:
Not that interested to see it, even in theater. Too pricey, maybe might watch it on dvd, at friends house. Rather go out for dinner and a beer for 20$.
Free? I guess I'm not doing anything tonight, suppose I'll watch it.
Hollywood version:
OH MAN I WOULD TOTALLY GIVE THEM ALL MY MONEY ALL THE TIME BUT I CAN GET IT FOR FREE SO I WONT BUT IF I CANT GET IT FOR FREE I WILL TOTALLY GIVE THEM ALL MY MONEY ALL THE TIME THEY ARE SUPER AWESOME AND DESERVE ALL MY MONEY.
They bank on people not knowing if the movie is worth paying for in the first place. Like some game developers, they get mad at pirates or first buyers because if the game is shitty, they let people know, instead of suckering you into paying for it first and then it being too bad.
As for video games, pirates are also the biggest spenders on games. Studies have shown that, and it's because they're also their biggest fans, if they enjoy the game, they want to support the developers and have an official copy.
You go to the movie theater for the experience. Now the ticket prices themselves aren't too bad, but they charge 7 fucking dollars for POPCORN.
Your movie profits are being wrecked by greedy cinema's charging too much for "the experience" which typically is popcorn, a drink and the movie. suddenly to watch a movie it's 25-30$ instead of 12-15 which is the ticket itself. A couple / two people? Now it's 50-60$
I'd have way more friend with a friend each buying dinner for 12-15$ and then another 15$ in drinks that night than most movies.
These stupid warnings ended up pissing me off so much I simply stopped buying disks.
For a while I switched to a well know ads-free streaming platform, until they banned VPN.
Since I simply browse the web, read books or play games.
They should not underestimate how much customers despise being interrupted with stupid insulting warnings (or worse : anti-piracy videos)
What genius didn't realise the pirates will not be the ones seeing these annoying messages ?
Irrelevant news and morons using moderation to mod down what they disagree on. 2018 resolution: so long.
While I do believe there's a chunk of people who download movies for the express purpose of not going to pay for it I don't believe that it's enough to affect the bottom line of the production companies. More often than not those who download were never going to watch the movie in the theater regardless because it was just not worth it to them. Yes they've consumed the good and maybe should pay for that consumption but initially they wouldn't have gone and pay the exorbitant ticket prices for them. For sure there's movies I have downloaded and watched and thought that I should have gone to see it in the theater but there's exponentially more movies I've downloaded and watched and thought to myself that I'm quite content with not having paid to watch it, there's even a number of movies that I thought that I should have been paid to watch because it was just utter rubbish and a loss of a couple of hours of my life. Let's face it, there's far more movies that nobody really regrets not watching than there are must-see and that's on the movie industry for greenlighting every terrible thing that comes across their desk in hopes of a quick buck
Depending on how the things pan out, it might steal sales, or might give sales.
If for example your movie is good, but horribly marketed, pirates may end doing a word of mouth wave that will make at least the dvd sales be good.
It's almost as if paying customers aren't the ones they need to be lecturing about being paying customers...
Gee, who knew that pirates and file-sharers don't pay attention to the FBI splash screens? Truly a shocking revelation!!
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
If someone threatens to take your Internet away, that is a big incentive NOT to go to the movies. Why would you finance the bullies?
Meanwhile, if you forget that they are spying on you and censoring the Internet, then you might go to have the "movies" experience.
And I note that a lot of people here are talking about the warnings in the beginning of the movies, but that's not what the article is talking about:
France was one of the pioneers in this area with its three-strikes anti-piracy law, and similar policies have been implemented in countries such as Ireland, South Korea, New Zealand and the United States, among others.
Their premise in pushing this propaganda is that people would go to the theater to watch these movies if they didn't or couldn't download them. The problem is that there have been so many horribly disappointing movies the last few years hitting the box office that people are just voting with their dollars ..... Suicide Squad is a perfect example. It was hyped for almost two years, all of the trailers made it look amazing but the final cut was barely
more than a character introduction with nearly none of the joker that people were longing for ...... it doesn't take too many movies like this before
people just throw up their hands and give up.
Also, there is a huge contingent of people that only download movies because they don't actually enjoy going to the theater. Their best play to try
and increase revenues at this point would be to actually put some kind of system in place to see current run movies from home with a simultaneous PPV
release system of some kind. Rather than hurting overall revenues I think this would increase revenues in the end. People that like going and doing the big
screen experience would still go and people that don't would still be putting dollars into the system.
We hate you. Please buy our stuff.
I guess if I was in marketing, that approach might make sense to me?
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Theaters have lost me as a customer. I know what you're thinking: "Too expensive! $50 for a popcorn, soda, and seats!" Nope. It's their new "everything is online" crap:
My family decided to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve day, last minute, so I had nothing to do Christmas day. I was first in line at the theater.
Chipper movie guy: "We're doing reserved seating, here's what's available."
It's all in the front row.
Me: "Thanks, I'll go be first in line at the theater at this other strip mall; they don't open until 11AM."
Chipper movie guy: "Sorry, Happy Holidays!"
*drive down the street*
Tired movie girl: "Happy Holidays!. We're doing reserved seating. Here's what's available."
All front row, and one in the middle that turns orange then red as I'm watching the screen for just a second.
Me: "Thanks, I'll go home and watch TV."
They really need to save some seats for people that are physically first in line. Not just first for a particular movie; I was first in line for the whole freakin' day. *curmudgeonly grumble*
Look how well that campaign worked to stop software piracy.
In other news: people who have extra spending money, use it on non-essentials, while those people without extra money skip buying non-essentials.
guess most pirates would just not see them then ever.
So they don't even have the decency to pretend that those anti-piracy measures were meant to curb piracy?
bickerdyke
ignorant boobs
I do not think it means what you think it means.
I don't see why piracy is still a problem. This clip should've put an end to it by now:
https://youtu.be/qPEeaxI0OPU
You will never pirate another movie again after watching this:
https://youtu.be/qPEeaxI0OPU
3 days ago there is a news story about record box office ticket sales.
Now we have "piracy warnings aren't working."
Is this latest story one to try and mask out the record profits?
An "oops, that might encourage pirates so.."
Hw do we know this research wasn't funded by the entertainment industry?
Just popped in my first bluray in months, the other night. Took me close to 10 minutes to start the movie after all of the piracy warnings, studio advertisements, ratings advisories, etc. All they're doing is punishing the people who did what they wanted, and encouraging people like me to go back to torrenting.
I haven't pirated music, on the other hand, since they removed the DRM and started selling songs at a reasonable price. It's not worth the effort for music, I'm happy to pay. But it most certainly is for movies.
..until morale improves.
That's more or less the strategy they seem to be using here. Of course what I believe is that there are people who will pay to see a movie, and there are people who won't pay to see a movie, and you're not going to convince, coerce, or otherwise force them to change their minds about not paying. What the MPAA wants to do is change hearts and minds to their way of thinking, but they're using the stick instead of the carrot. Also, they're not acknowledging that there are people who will never have their minds changed regardless of what tactics you use.
It's an improvement over that fucking ice cream van jingle I keep hearing. I so want to shoot that van....