Star Trek XI Top Pirated Movie

[Hambone]

You're not robbing the "rightful owner" of anything if you subsequently purchase the movie thru normal channels.

I don't agree. You can't walk into a store and say "I'm gonna take this movie home and watch it, for free. I promise I'll bring it back tomorrow and if I liked it, I'll pay for it." I guess the answer is, if you want to watch without paying, wait until the movie is available in your public library.

Maybe the answer is to have a low def, bare-bones version available as soon as a movie is taken from the theater and until the full hi-res, extra-laden one is ready.

I read that this is already being experimented with in some markets.

 

[Clancy_s]

I pay a monthly subscription fee for "unlimited" access to my local cinema, it is a very reasonable £13.50 and I live round the corner, so I never feel the need to pirate movies when I can go watch on the big screen.

There's nothing like that available in my part of Aus, I still saw it in the cinema 5 times.

I considered a pirated copy because of the long wait between ST11 finishing in theatres and the release of the DVD. The sample showed it to be really poor quality so I didn't bother, but I understand the desire for ST11 now!.

But inbetween, I downloaded it because I just couldn't wait for the official release. Am I a criminal now?

Yes.

Maybe, even probably (depending on how you downloaded it) - it depends on where you are. Hambone is more or less summarising the USA laws.

In Australia it's not actually illegal to download stuff atm but it is illegal to upload or otherwise share it, so in practice torrenting stuff is illegal but if you found a straight download it'd be OK.

Once you buy a DVD (or bluray) Aus law allows you to make a rip / other copy for your own use, on any medium you care for, but again you can't share it. I keep my entertainment on a NAS rather than using physical disks (more convenient and doesn't risk damaging the disks) so I ripped the DVD immediately I had it.

You're not robbing the "rightful owner" of anything if you subsequently purchase the movie thru normal channels. But you are right, the pirate does make money they shouldn't make.

Do they make money? I thought most stuff offered via torrents was free, except for the isp costs.

Maybe the answer is to have a low def, bare-bones version available as soon as a movie is taken from the theater and until the full hi-res, extra-laden one is ready.

I'd go for that, if it's not possible to have the hi-res one available within a week or 2 of the movie leaving the cinemas. Also arrange for the DVD / Bluray release to be the same day (or so) everywhere - some places having it a month before others IMO increases the temptation to piracy.

 

[Photoman15]

You're not robbing the "rightful owner" of anything if you subsequently purchase the movie thru normal channels.

I don't agree. You can't walk into a store and say "I'm gonna take this movie home and watch it, for free. I promise I'll bring it back tomorrow and if I liked it, I'll pay for it." I guess the answer is, if you want to watch without paying, wait until the movie is available in your public library.

Your analogy is incorrect. The movie, at the point we're talking about, is neither in the theaters nor available in the store where you give your example.

 

[Sector 7]

This thread started out on a soap box and probably needs to end there. The OP is on a rant and NOT interested in others' opinions on the matter. My time will be better spent in an actual discussion thread.

 

[Oso Blanco]

I saw it in the theater and I have bought the two disc dvd edition as well as the three disc blue ray edition. But inbetween, I downloaded it because I just couldn't wait for the official release. Am I a criminal now?

Yes.

When you download illegally, or rip a copy for a friend, you're robbing the rightful owners of the movie of their legal royalties. Even if you paid for it, legally, at another time. Most importantly, and probably worse; you are also supporting the people who made the movie available for illegal download.

How did downloading the movie hurt anyone? I still bought both the DVD and the BluRay. When I downloaded it, there was no other way to see the movie, so nobody made any loss whatsoever because of poor little me downloading this thing. And how did I support the uploaders? I don't pay for illegal downloads!

 

[Shikarnov]

Deleted. Sometimes I forget this isn't TNZ.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I saw it in the theater and I have bought the two disc dvd edition as well as the three disc blue ray edition. But inbetween, I downloaded it because I just couldn't wait for the official release. Am I a criminal now?

Yes.

When you download illegally, or rip a copy for a friend, you're robbing the rightful owners of the movie of their legal royalties. Even if you paid for it, legally, at another time. Most importantly, and probably worse; you are also supporting the people who made the movie available for illegal download.

How did downloading the movie hurt anyone? I still bought both the DVD and the BluRay. When I downloaded it, there was no other way to see the movie, so nobody made any loss whatsoever because of poor little me downloading this thing. And how did I support the uploaders? I don't pay for illegal downloads!

It doesn't have any material effect to the extent that pirated movies = successful movies. You aren't inhibiting more movies like that being made. You're just a parasite on an otherwise healthy system, no big deal. Since you also paid for versions of the movie, you're not even much of a parasite (tho if you hadn't paid a dime, it wouldn't have made any difference to the future prospects for the franchise).

Where it has a harmful effect is the extent to which pirated movies = unprofitable movies (that could be profitable if there was no piracy). I did cite a couple of "outliers" in my box office list above, which suggest that there are types of movies that piracy hurts - they're being pirated, which means there's a market, but that market is not being reflected in box office take. Those aren't the Star Trek type of movies, and they don't seem to be the type of movies I particularly like, so I'm not very bothered about this phenomenon.

Or think of it this way: If Star Trek had tanked at the box office, killed any notion of sequels, and for all we knew, killed the franchise as a whole, discussions of piracy would have a very different tone around here, particularly if Star Trek had been the top pirated movie or even in the top 20.

 

[GalaxyX]

I saw the movie 3 times in the theater.

I downloaded it right after, and it turned out to be a pretty crappy cam job. Deleted it. Rented the DVD when it was officially released.

I don't think they lost any money off me.

 

[I am not Spock]

I've never pirated anything. Games, music, movies.

If you hire an electrician to fix your circuits, he expects to be paid. Same with any other job. If you want to be entertained by a musician's work, or a film, the people behind it expect to be paid.

And buying a DVD or CD doesn't give you ownership of the film/album. It gives you the choice of watching/listening to it whenever you like, BUT FOR YOUR USE ONLY. Not for copying or resale.

 

[npsf3000]

Piracy is piracy and has always been harmful - any-one who says otherwise (in my experience), is simply a liar with poor logic.

I mean even if you would never of watched ST11 other than pirating it (Not at the cinema, TV or by rental), what would you have done in the time spent watching it? Would you have worked more, watched another movie, browsed a website? All these things have real financial impact on people.

Every time I use my browsers search I actually make money for someone - a fact that is little realized.

Intellectual property is property, and by pirating it you are stealing someones rights - it doesn't have to be financial to be theft. These rights are the only thing preventing me from raping women and killing children - A right is a right.

(I would like to say that if you own a DVD - ripping it to your computer etc does not constitute as piracy IMO - downloading a Movie if you have a licence IMO is not piracy either).