Piracy Of Films

Piracy Of Films

Introduction

The term 'piracy' dates back to 1600, and it is used for illegal copies made of books, music and films (Fisk, 2011, p.12). Different laws regarding the theft of intellectual property have been drafted. In America, this law was authorized during the eighteenth century. After the creation of the original work, its copyrights are assigned to either the creator himself, to some publisher or some distributor. However, still there are many ways to get these legal copies illegally. Internet has become one of the major source through which pirated movies are shared. Other means of pirating movies are the usage of illegal optical discs and counterfeited DVDs. The following essay has discussed that piracy is theft, and it is such a web that is spread all over the world. There are various ways of pirating yet if strong and proper measures are taken then it can be stopped. Through people's cooperation, this illegal practice could be put to halt.

Discussion

Copyright protects the illegal distribution of the intellectual property. The copywriter holds the right to reproduce, derivate and distribute. Distribution of films except by the copywriter or the original creator is illegal. This distribution is made by making multiple copies of the original DVD or sharing files on the internet for free (Treverton et.al, p.36). In today's digital age, people conveniently make peer-to-peer and server-based files and then share that content without charging. Now it has become a lot easier to share anything through internet and there are many ways of pirating a film (Fisk, 2011, p.33). It is done through cam cording, by leaking the print or by the post-production leak (Treverton et.al, p.36). Cam cording is distributed on the internet through file sharing or via optical-discs. Researches have proved that cam cording is harmful for the film industry and that the bearers of this loss are 'cinema owners, local distributors and retailers' (Telang et.al, 2011, p.1).

Online film piracy is done through uploading of movies on the internet. Movies become available online within just few hours after their first show. In USA, a film distributor said that he lost half of his profit due to piracy whenever a new movie is released (Strauss, 2013). The hard copies of films are made through burning a CD or counterfeiting DVDs. These counterfeited DVDs earn good amount of profits for the owners. These DVDs are sometimes released even before the original ...