Is It Really Wrong To Download a Movie You Wouldn’t Pay To See In The Theater or Rent?
I’m not one to ever speak bad about downloading. In fact I think it’s just an inevitable part of the technological evolution of our society. It’s human nature to get something for nothing and there are people out there downloading movies like there’s no tomorrow. If a movie comes out on Friday, you can best believe that you can find a torrent of it on Saturday. The question is, who’s really hurt of you download a movie that you were not going to pay to see or rent anyway? For example, let’s say I don't have any Netflix out and I want to check out Duece Bigalow: European Gigolo because a friend of mine said it was horrible beyond belief. Now there’s little chance I’d ever hand over 10 bills to see this movie, or even waste precious real estate on my Netflix queue. But if I download it and watch it one of those days when there’s nothing on TV, my writing isn’t hitting, and all my Netflix are in transit then what’s the harm?
posted by writebrother @ 7:04 PM
5 Comments:
At 7:38 PM,
oneslackmartian said…
I think the industry loves technology because it provides the opportunity to sell a product again and again in a new medium. There are some songs and records that I have purchased AT LEAST four times. First on vinyl. Then again on vinyl when the first one wore out. Then on cassette. Then on CD. So I don’t feel real bad when I download something for free. Now I know artists all have bills to pay, but so do I.
Thanks for the post.
At 8:21 AM,
Chris said…
Um, you've watched something for free that would otherwise cost you some amount of money to see. The studio is out the cost of your free viewing. Piracy is piracy whether the movie is a good one or crap.
At 8:50 AM,
writebrother said…
I can relate to both sides on this issue, but it's one of those cases where your own personal morality code comes into play. I don't condone going into a theater with a camcorder, but I think I'm always going to have a outlaw type of mentality when it comes to any authority. Not to mention, the theater bootlegs are sometimes pretty crappy. By teh way, I didn't actually download Duece Bigalo. I like stupid comedies like that sometimes, but I know better than to try my luck with that sequel.
An additional question would be is it wrong to download TV shows?
At 9:03 AM,
Melanie said…
I think you're absolutely right that downloading is inevitable. The studios will complain, just as other corporate interests did when free broadcasts on radio worried the recording industry and television was predicted to be the death of movies. Sooner or later they will stop bellyaching, probably when they figure out a way to make money off the new technology. Record companies soon figured out that radio sold records, and radio created new stars that were spun off into movies. Many of those radio stars would also usher in the golden age of television. Television in turn provided a new place to advertise movies and another source of stars to tempt people out of their living rooms and into the theater.
I haven't figured out the whole bit torrent thing yet, but I always want to use it when my cable inevitably fritzes out and I miss episodes of my favorite shows. While some networks rebroadcast, the ones that don't put me in the untenable position of having to wait for reruns, or worse, the season's DVD release. Either way, I don't want to watch the rest of the broadcast season, because I've missed an episode or two of the overall story. In that case, a downloaded episode would actually keep me watching for the rest of the season when I otherwise wouldn't, and I'll probably buy the DVD set when it comes out anyway.
I've already used iTunes' new video capability for this reason: I've caught up on missed Lost episodes and not minded at all paying $1.99 to do so. I think this is probably the first wave of corporate profits to come from paid download service: immediately after ABC made Lost and Desperate Housewives available on iTunes, CBS and NBC announced $0.99 shows would soon be available on Comcast, and the WB made a deal to sell its content on AOL.
With so many different kinds of media competing for each viewer's attention, video-on-demand (whether paid or unpaid) might finally make TV a less chancy medium. Building a loyal audience seems to be more and more of a challenge these days, so being able to stay current with a series and watch it during the kind of downtime that you describe might actually get viewers to commit an hour of prime time to a show they wouldn't otherwise have gotten involved in.
As for the harm in downloading Deuce Bigalow: European Gigilo, I'd say we should worry more about the assault on Rob Schneider's dignity than any ethical questions of infringement...
At 4:46 PM,
Discfree.com said…
For years the studios refused to canibalized their CD sales because of the high price fixing margins that they get on package media. We didn't see iTunes until Napster and Kazaa forced them to change their business model.
Today they are blocking movie downloads because of the high margins on the DVD business. While I would disagree with stealing a movie just because you aren't will to pay to watch something, but I do believe that civil disobendence plays an important role in keeping the Hollywood Fat Cats honest. If a movie is not available for a download purchase then I think that consumers should have the right to pilfer and steal media all they want. Only through dissent can we force the studios to come up with a viable download business model.
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