Kocsis Bettina

Legal alternatives against illegal movie downloading

In the digital age, people can find almost everything on the Internet. In several cases, with the help of the Internet, people can also download files, for instance, thousands of movies are available online. The users of sites which provide illegal movie downloading usually pay nothing to watch the movies they download which is an issue for the film industry because film companies lose opportunities to make even more profit. According to Mcbride and Fowler (2006), U.S. studios lost $6.1 billion in 2006 due to piracy. Attempts to prevent illegal downloading have failed, and therefore, in my opinion, film companies and rights holders need to try to decrease illegal downloading by offering attractive legal alternative models.

First of all, the introduction of a donation-based system is an attractive idea. This would mean that after downloading or watching a movie online, viewers are required to pay money depending on to what extent they liked or disliked the movie they watched. In this way, viewers do not steal the film makers’ product, they support rights holders and they have a choice to watch the movies at home while they are the ones who have the freedom to decide how much they pay for the content. The idea of this type of donation-based system is not completely new because it already operates in several fields of business, for example, on certain websites, visitors can see a section in which they are asked to donate.

What is more, another interesting alternative idea in connection with donation with which film makers reduce illegal download while, at the same time, they receive money is to create a website which allows film directors to introduce their film projects. These would be the plans for not existing movies; however, if people like the projects, they can support film makers to produce their movie. Nowadays one of the most popular donation-based fundraising sites is kickstarter.com which helps talented individuals to bring their creative projects to life. This site also has a category for funding films and videos. One of the most successful films which came to life with the help of supporters is Meanwhile (2011). If this idea could grow bigger, a well-functioning and popular website only for movies could be established. On this site, amateurs and professional film makers would tell the audience about their film projects. In return for the money to create these projects, supporters would receive a special edition of the movie they supported which means that these people will not download these movies illegally and film makers also have huge profits.

Furthermore, some trusted sites which provide movies online already exist.  The most well-known example is probably Netflix which is specialised in streaming movies and television series online. Users of the site have to register and pay the chosen fee on a monthly basis. Currently the most popular recent movie streamed on Netflix is Pain and Gain (2013). Netflix and online sources similar to Netflix have several advantages; for example, they protect movie companies from piracy and they are also fast and up to date. A movie opens on 25,000 screens around the world in a single weekend, and within a week it’s available on Netflix (Epstein 2010). However, the major disadvantage of the Netflix system is that it is not available in every country. For example, people cannot use Netflix in Hungary. Investing money on the development and extension of Netflix would be beneficial because it reduces online piracy and provides high quality online movie streaming. 

Finally, another attractive solution for illegal download is to transfer the Spotify model to movies. Spotify.com is a website where people can listen to music for free, but they cannot download them unless they pay for the premium service. In return for the free music, Spotify users have to watch ads and commercials for a given period. Founding an online site for movies similar to Spotify would be a good first step toward reducing illegal piracy. The huge income from commercials would support the film industry and people would have the chance to watch movies online for free and legally. Commercials in movie theatres are presented, and they work effectively; thus, this system can be adapted to online legal film-watching, too.

In conclusion, rights holders and film companies should introduce new alternatives and improve the old alternatives in order to reduce the number of illegal downloaders and increase their profits. Among others, an attractive idea which would be effective against illegal downloaders is to reformulate every websites in a way that they require users to pay after they watched or downloaded the movies. Moreover, the popularization of a commercial system into the online movie streaming websites also seems to be a promising idea.

References

Epstein, M. (2010). A detailed look inside the illegal movie market. Working Paper, Chicago: University of Chicago

Mcbride, S., & Fowler, G. (2006). Studios see big rise in estimates of losses to movie piracy. The Wall Street Journal, 13, 45–56.