Movies Copyright and Illegal Downloading - Coursework Example

Movies Copyright and Illegal Downloading Name: College: Course: Lecturer: Date: Abstract This paper examines the forces behind increased illegal downloading and argues that programs such as Kazaa and Bittorent have largely contributed to increased sharing and transfer of media. In addition, through the peer-to-peer networks, users acquire entertainment media for free that everyone else is required to pay a specific fee. In fact peer-to-peer sharing networks have been blamed for enabling million of users worldwide to share media content by making illegal downloading as easy as executing a Google search. The paper highlights different measures that have been undertaken by film companies in an attempt to curb piracy. The media industry has on several occasions petitioned the government to enable the Department of Justice bring civil cases against unlawful downloader. Other measures include the use of DRM systems that function by protecting media content with some form of technical barrier that can be opened only on a defined device or a set of devices and digital serial numbers which are entrenched in media content in a manner that is unintelligible to humans. It considers the U.S laws and international laws such as the Berne Convention which have been passed to protect intellectual property. Introduction The entertainment market is exposed to a challenging environment. The production as well as distribution of entertainment media such as movies, TV and music by digital means, while beneficial to the market, has also rendered digital piracy, the illegitimate sharing of entertainment media, considerably easier. While many clients continue to purchase physical media and buy media online, a considerable proportion of clients also engage in illicit sharing of media via peer-to-peer networks and other sharing applications such as BitTorrent. For decades, content providers have experienced the problem of consumers stealing satellite or cable signals, pirating of hard copies and clients copying pay television and videos, but the greatest threat many be unlawful downloading from the internet where quality digital movies are accessible that rarely deteriorate in terms of quality. The problem been exacerbated with the proliferation of high-speed Internet access. Global losses from all types of piracy are approximated at $6.1 billion (Stephanos and Diomidis, 2004). However, it is greatly skewed to overseas countries where, for instance, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) obtains 50 percent of its revenues (Stephanos and Diomidis, 2004). Digital piracy has become a commonplace. It is believed that four in every five consumers who download entertainment media do so illicitly at least occasionally. While nearly 50 percent of those clients also download content lawfully, that leaves one inn every five consumers who download entertainment media strictly legally (Stephanos and Diomidis, 2004). These figures do not show how many real downloads are illicit overall, but they powerfully indicate that lawful downloads comprise the smaller percentage by far. This paper examines the forces behind increased illegal downloading, the current laws on piracy as well as efforts made by film companies to curb the menace. Increase in Illegal Downloading With the rising popularity of the World Wide Web, sales for DVDS, CDs, among other products have improved significantly. Together with the improvement of entertainment media sales has brought forth an increasing problem of illegal downloading of media. Programs including Kazaa and Bittorent and other networking programs capable of direct connection have permitted the sharing and transfer of media. Downloading digital movies, video games and other software applications online over a free peer-to-peer networks has largely contributed to the menace. One of the major factors that have contributed to the increased cases of illegal downloading is the ability to acquire entertainment media for free through the peer-to-peer networks that everyone else is required to pay a specific fee. CDs and DVDs that cost legitimate users anywhere between 15 dollars to 60 dollars or even more are normally distributed for free through these networks as long as one has a download client (Stephen, 2008).   If one has programs such as Bittorent or Kazaa, all which is required is to find someone who already has the media on his or her computer, in which he or she either duly paid for the copies or downloaded the media illegitimately from someone else.   Role of technology Technology has greatly facilitated the increased cases of illegal downloading of movies. In fact peer-to-peer sharing networks have been blamed for enabling million of users worldwide to share media content (Casale, 2010). Peer-to-peer networks are based on the mutual sharing of huge numbers of individual users. They work by having participants willingly install unique file-sharing software application on their computers. Once that P2P software is installed, these users start to illegally download AVI files of their much loved movies and songs. The sharing operates by each user sharing small bits at a time. This method is cost free, in fact it is more or less as easy as executing a Google search. This file trading and illegal downloading, forms the center of the P2P online group of people. Even though the files are frequently large (from five megabytes to five gigabytes), P2P software can make the bandwidth connection attain astonishing speeds. For a large number of people, it is feasible to download a whole music CD in less than an hour and an entire movie in less than three hours. Effect on film industry The monetary impact of unlawful file sharing on media markets is disputed. Some researches suggest that illegal downloading of software, music and movies is unambiguously negatively affecting the economy, while other researches suggest file sharing is not the principal cause of turn downs in sales (Waters, 2009). Unlawful file sharing remains prevalent, with mixed public views regarding the morals behind the practice. While the economic magnitude of this problem has not been quantified precisely, its negative effect on the entertainment market is indisputable. For example a pre-release type of X-men origins was placed to a file-sharing network online from where it was downloaded for approximately 100,000 times (Stephen, 2008). In another case, there were roughly 350,000 downloads of pre-release songs of the much expected Guns N’ Roses album. While illicit downloads not translate to one-for-one in relation to sale losses, it is probable that a segment of the 450,000 downloads typically represent clients who would have bought a ticket to watch X-Men Origins when it was released, in the nonexistence of an opening to obtain it from the internet for free (Stephen, 2008). Researches on the impact of internet piracy are uncommon. Studies have suggested that theatre attendance is unaffected by illegal downloading of movies, but video rentals excluding those with prior-paid plans and purchases were severely affected. Intentions to acquire an illicitly downloaded movies cause consumers to forego legal DVD purchases, legal DVD rentals and theatre visits. Stephen (2008) also highlighted unhelpful effects from unlawful downloading. Online piracy effects may be exaggerated. Market losses are based on the supposition that every consumer of an illegal copy would have paid the actual market price, but other markets may be siphoning off restricted consumer disposable income including video gaming, a rapid-growing $19 billion market. Efforts of Film Companies to Solve this Problem The film companies have on several occasions attempted to deter digital piracy. The media industry has on several occasions petitioned the government to enable the Department of Justice bring civil cases against unlawful downloader. A topical Supreme Court decisions holds peer-to-peer networks monetary accountable for piracy, even though overseas websites are not subject to United States ruling. However, they have experienced numerous challenges in their efforts to restrict or at least eradicate illegal downloading. The challenges experiencing in deterring illegal downloading are two-fold. The technical challenge id creating a technology that attempts to balance content rights of ownership with their just use and ease of content distribution. The cultural problems include an improving tolerance of illicit downloading and sharing as a lawful means of getting media, the assumption that people are unlikely to be arrested after engaging in illicit downloading, and intolerance to the overly severe limitations of digital rights management systems (DRM). Generally, film companies, in a bid to curb widespread piracy, have employed DRM. DRM systems function by protecting media content with some form of technical barrier that can be opened only on a defined device or a set of devices. For instance, digital films and music may be encrypted when it is bought such that it is possible to decrypt it and ply on particular devices that are defined at the time of buying. DRM have been employed by film companies with little success. The shortcomings have been both cultural and technical in nature. In technical terms, DRM systems can be weakened by straightforward attack on the technical aspect or by concentrating on the analog hole. The so called analog hole exploits the requirement for changing digital media content to analog form for pleasure and in the analog form it can be effortlessly recorded again free of DRM limitations. From a cultural perspective, DRM systems have been viewed by most consumers to be excessively restrictive and intrude on fair uses and legitimate use of media content. Digital Serial Numbers A totally different approach adopted to deter illegal downloading employs digital watermarks. A digital watermark is basically a data entrenched in media content in a manner that is unintelligible to humans but effortlessly extracted by digital tools. Within its magnitude constraints, a digital watermark can comprise virtually any data needed by the application at hand such as date-time stamps, MPAA ratings and copyright notices. In the milieu of digital media content, watermarks are employed to embed special codes to recognize embodiments of content such as music CDs and digital movies. Digital watermarks utilized in this manner are in effect digital serial numbers, creating the ownership and identity of personal embodiments of digital content. Serial numbers are broadly understood and a tolerated phenomena in both the digital and physical worlds. Many objects are serial-numbered to ensure their provenance and to offer an array of advantages to both producers and consumers. In the physical environment, objects ranging from cameras to cars are serial numbered. Within the digital world, films, video games and software applications are serial numbered. U.S Law and Copyright U.S has put in place numerous laws which have been modified over the decades to protect intellectual property. Intellectual property is the section of law that deals with protection of the rights of those who produce original works. It encompasses everything from original novels to plays and company recognition marks. The purposes of intellectual property laws are to promote fresh technologies, inventions and artistic expressions while encouraging economic growth. When people realize that their innovative work will be safeguarded and that they can profit from their labor, they are more probable to continue to generate things that create jobs, make processes well-organized, and develop new technology. There are three major mechanisms for safeguarding intellectual property in the U. S: trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Copyrights offer protection to the expressive arts. They offer owners restricted rights to replicate their work, publicly perform or display their work, and generate derivative works (Cornwell University Law School, 2001). In addition, owners are granted economic rights to monetarily benefit from their work and exclude others from doing so without their authorization. It is imperative to appreciate that copyrights do not essentially protect ideas, only how they are expressed. Patents protect a discovery from being made used or sold by others for a definite period of time. Trademarks on the other hand protect identifying marks of and the names of companies and products. The rationale of trademarks is to make it straightforward for consumers to differentiate competitors from one other. Trademarks are routinely assumed once a business starts using a definite mark to classify its company. Berne Convention In addition to the domestic laws, international laws have also been put in place to protect intellectual property. One such law is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, commonly recognized as the Berne Convention, is a global accord governing copyright, which was first established in Berne, Switzerland in the year1886 (Cornwell University Law School, 2001). The Convention requires its participants to acknowledge the copyright of works authored in other signatory states in the same way they recognize the copyright of their own nationals. For instance, French copyright regulation applies to whatever thing performed or published in France, not considering where it was originally produced. In addition to creating a system of equivalent treatment that internationalized copyright among signatories, the accord also required member countries to provide brawny minimum standards for copyright regulation. Conclusion It is obvious from the continuing debate that illegal downloading has become pervasive in recent times. Technology particularly peer-to-peer sharing networks have enabled million of users worldwide to share media content. Programs including Kazaa and Bittorent and other networking programs capable of direct connection have permitted the sharing and transfer of media. These peer-to-peer networks have not only made illegal downloading of movies cost free, but have also made it is more than or less as easy as executing a Google search. The effects of illegal downloading on the movie industry are three fold. First, video rentals excluding those with prior-paid plans and purchases are harshly affected. Secondly, intentions to obtain an illicitly downloaded movies cause consumers to miss out on legal DVD purchases and theatre visits. Lastly, illegal downloads typically represent eager consumers who would have bought a ticket to watch movies in theatres. References Casale, L. (2010). Illegal downloading elicits disconnection from internet. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://www.manitoumessenger.com/arts-entertainment/illegal-downloading-elicits-disconnection-from-internet-1.2182362 Cornwell University Law School. (2001). Copyright. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/Copyright Stephen L. (2008).Review of Business Research. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/35601365/PREDICTING-ILLEGAL-DOWNLOADING-OF-MOVIES-AND-TELEVISION Waters D. (2009). How damaging is illegal file sharing. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/05/how_damaging_is_illegal_filesh.html Read More