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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Stopping pirates?

Someone just had the gall to post a pirate link to one of my complete projects on the YouTube trailer I posted!

They're getting brazen, that's for sure.
:emote_head_explode:
 
I'm very curious...all of you that are getting pirated...how many people have the projects? Or is this after you have done a DVD wide distribution? If its before you even release surely someone you know must've made the rip and passed it around till it hit the pirate...

If its distribution already...then really...someone has to start finding ways to keep the content either on the DVDs or watermarking it and then using copyright laws to sue major pirate distributors.
 
I have given 1 VHS (not wanting to be pirated) tape to a bloke, he is the captain of the pirate ship and must be sunk.
He runs a charter boat operation to the islands that I documented
 
Like somebody else said, adopt new technologies and be flexible, don't let it bother you.
Piracy is undefeatable but you can definitely take advantage of the demand (look at the bright side: somebody WANTS to see your work ;). Unlike moto grips and sunglass piracy where you flat out lose money, there is an actual VALUE in having more eyeballs see your film.
It's up to you to explore this.... just saying. Don't beat yourself over it but look on the positive side and take advantage of it.

Cheers,

Milan
 
All of mine are pirated after wide DVD release.

We control it pretty closely before that stage.

About two minutes after the release however, all bets are off.
 
"I think that the Internet is going to effect the most profound change on the entertainment industries combined. And we're all gonna be tuning into the most popular Internet show in the world, which will be coming from some place in Des Moines. We're all gonna lose our jobs. We're all gonna be on the Internet trying to find an audience." Steven Spielberg
 
We have to forget technologically protecting content and instead concentrate on the psychological aspects of distribution.

I'm working on a business plan that actively seeks to release material through the bittorrent sites for free. There will be a release of material and goodies for our core audience that they can hold in their hand that nobody else will have. You increase the value of your core customer base, treat them well, treat them nice and they will pay for what you have (if your content is any good of course). This also significantly increases the value of your product to major TV and film distribs. This is the new way to distribute and it's slowly taking a foothold. The majors are waking up to it but like all giants are slow and fearful of the mouse underfoot. Indies HAVE to go down this route. There is no other way as far as I see it. Just take a look at DIY DAYS and others. Here's a list to get you started if you want to go down this route.

http://diydays.com/
http://workbookproject.com/
http://showcase.fromheretoawesome.com/
http://lanceweiler.com/

Just a little bit of history that illustrates the idea. Rumour was rife that Battlestar (the new one) was going to be good. The distribution of the show meant that the US showing occurred I think after the first UK showing. So after broadcast in the UK of course it appeared on the bittorrent sites very quickly much to the anger of the Sci-Fi Channel. But what in fact happened was that the buzz generated from viewers in the US looking at the pirated first episode increased the US audience significantly and as a result...Sci-Fi had an instant hit. It could be argued that the take off of that series may not have been so great if it hadn't found it's way into the hands of viewers who are net savvy and like to talk up a thing because of the coolness of seeing it first. The momentum carries on from there.

Think outside the box. Turn a negative into a positive if you can.
 
Dexter Gregoire said:
It would be a great pleasure to find my movies in all households around the world, and if Pirates are the ones making it happen, then so be it!
Click to expand...

Amateur post of the week.

This month the elected delegate of the Pirate Party took his seat in the European Parliament.
Movies and music became information - information wants to be free. Thus it is an act of freedom to pirate music and movies.

That people actually believe this crap....

Jochen
 
Many (most?) in today's generation don't even grasp the illegality of their action.

I'll always remember the story of a local artist (a few years back) in an interview, where she went to an autograph signing, and this young teenager came over with a huge smile and sparkles in her eyes. The young girl gave her a pirated CD to autograph -- and we're talking just a regular CD with no attempt at making it look legit. The artist of course refused, and the teenager was devastated that she couldn't get an autograph. The artist said she could see that the teenager didn't understand at all that what she was doing was wrong.

I'm quite certain that many (not just younger people though) have absolutely no concept of wrongdoing when pirating material. They think it's just something you do: you need music or a movie? Just get it on the internet. It's kind of like telling a teenager who's already been smoking/drinking for years that it's not legal for them to do so. He'd just look at you, puzzled.
 
The persons burning me are quite aware of what they are doing, they own 3 planes and 2 lobster boats, wondering if theft got them where they are today?
.....3 unusable planes and 2 sunken boats would be nice.....
come on karma, its my turn now
 
If you don't want to lawyer up, have already tried to reason with them and they're ignoring polite requests, you could try embarrassing them in the local newspaper via a story, go on local radio to talk about piracy, or setup a picket line. Basically harass them in legal low cost ways until they relent. Actually threaten them with all the above first, so they can consider doing the right thing, but follow through with the threat if they don't.

In future, if someone requests a "viewing" copy make sure there's a prominent watermark banner across the picture (semitransparent lettering across the middle is hard to get rid of).

Good luck!
 
Vince,

I'm a bit late into this thread. But in this situation you need to hire a good lawyer and tell the lawyer to go after them. On the surface it really is that simple. Take pictures / video to document how they show your footage that they have not licensed. Which begs the question, why did you give this guy a VHS tape of your footage? OK, I can probably understand that, but you should've watermarked the crap out of it, put your logo over a significant portion of the image or make it move about. Anytime I give video to a client, it's always representative of the final product, but never suitable for actual use -- as in I put an animated watermark and sometimes even moving lines over the image (stuff that's pretty much impossible to remove) and they don't get the real deal until it's paid for and/or licensed.

For me, I have had plenty of my work stolen over the years. It sucks. I always do whatever I can about it. In fact, I'm dealing with such a situation myself right now. The worst thing you can do is turn your back and not do anything. Especially now that you have made a public reference to this. If you ignore this incident and then decide to pursue a similar situation in the future, you may open yourself up to inconsistency and doubt within a court of law. It's much like protecting trademarks and copyrights; you have to protect them. And I'm sure it works this way in Australia too, but in the US and UK you can not only demand they stop using your video, but you can also seek restitution and have the court demand they compensate you for all your expenses and legal fees, lawyer costs, etc.. needed to accomplish shutting them down.
 
Piracy is not inherently a bad thing, with digital downloads.

It is however a bad thing if digital downloads result in no/low sales and thus content producers receive no money.

While it is easy to unleash the lawyers, that makes the lawyers the real winners. Perhaps you need to re-evaluate how you produce and distribute content in order to profit from it... to coninue producing more content.

First ask...
Why am I making this work?
Then ask...
Why would people pirate this?

To the first question, you could want people to see the work no matter what, or you could merely want to make money. Or you want a combination of both.

Secondly, realize why people pirate works, to provide them what they want. Unfortunately you now HAVE TO COMPETE WITH PIRATE DISTRIBUTION. Its up to you to leverage PIRACY TO YOUR BENEFIT.

If people want on demand streaming of content, they dont want necessarily want to watch a poor rip or cam version of your film... so provide them with the type of distribution they want.
If people want a low or no cost version of the film (instead of 20$ DVDs, $30 Blu-Ray or 5 dollar rentals), provide a free version with product placement as the revenue stream or direct adverts. With advertising as the revenue piracy is great because it with P2P distribution costs go down, and the more people that watch it, the more revenue you bring in. Or simply charge less.

Basically relize what you want, and what the media consumer wants and give them the choice they want that still works for you. Red is revolutionizing digital cinema, and its up to content producers and distributors to realize that the market is changing, and instead of stagnating in yesterdays media system, we need to be realistic visionaries and use modern technology to create a next generation business model that works for everybody, from the man who makes the camera, to the man who uses it, to the man that shares the film to the man who watches it.

Its all about finding the right choices and presenting them.
 
Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock said:
Amateur post of the week.
Click to expand...

The point of these posts is not pro-piracy. The point is that the DVD system of distribution and the DVD itself are dead. If you are still trying to make money from DVD sales, you are stuck in the past and that can't be good.

Like I said, if you have a problem with piracy, the good news is: there's a demand for your product. It's up to you to adapt to the changing market and find ways to take advantage of this.
Many people encourage "piracy" or as it's simply known in digital age as SHARING. More eyeballs the better. 20 million P2P downloads or streams is worth a lot of money to someone.... it's up to you to find who.

Go viral young man. :)

Good luck.

Milan
 
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I can really picture my future: Sending out mass emails:

"One of the 16 million files on your hard drive is a work of mine I have spent 3 month to write and produce. Would you be so very kind and send me 10 cents? I really have to buy some groceries."

Anybody here has illusions I will get 10 dollars?
 
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