Movie studios launch anti-piracy campaign please dont pirate

[Jo]

Movie studios launch anti-piracy campaign, please don't pirate


the movie studios are launching a new anti-piracy campaign today in the U.S. for which they're using a new tactic: they're asking nicely. In the television ads and in-theater spots makeup artists, set painters and other crafts people are used to deliver a clear message; piracy robs them of a living:

The Motion Picture Association of America has also developed a curriculum on copyrights for use in classrooms by Junior Achievement. The "Digital Citizenship" program covers the history of copyright and culminates with a nationwide contest in which students suggest ways to persuade peers that swapping illegal copies of music and movies is not only illegal, but wrong.

"I don't expect anyone to have sympathy for me or for other executives," said Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp., whose Twentieth Century Fox studio made the spots. "What we are endeavoring to do is both communicate that it's wrong and also communicate that there are human stakes and that those stakes are not just millionaires making less millions."

While copies of popular blockbusters can be found on the Internet — sometimes days before the movie is released to theaters — computer copies of films are still too large to download easily and are often poor quality copies made using hand-held camcorders. Music files, by contrast, are smaller and are CD quality. That fact led to services such as Napster, which was shut down after legal action taken by the music industry.


Movie studios believe they still have a few years before Internet connections become fast enough to threaten them in the same way. Studios are experimenting with new business models, including making films available legitimately online through services such as Movielink.


The first television ads will be displayed on Thursday night while the first trailers will begin running Friday in most major theater chains around the country. Each ad will end with a tag line, Movies. They're worth it

[poopyhead]

"What we are endeavoring to do is both communicate that it's wrong and also communicate that there are human stakes and that those stakes are not just millionaires making less millions."

gey, gey...and more gey

if they really want to make an impact...the CEO (and other studio execs), along with the actors, should all take huge pay cuts and give some of their money to the "makeup artists, set painters and other crafts people" if those ppl are really harmed.

showing these ads doesn't remove the fact that these execs and actors are still getting paid huge amounts of money, while claiming they're losing money to pirates..if they care about the "backstage ppl" losing their livelihoods, they should set by example and get pay cuts.... maybe with lower priced theaters tickets, more ppl will go watch the movies

[The village idiot]

They are also admitting that, with the current bandwidth limitations, downloading movies is not hurting them at present. But that if the "pipes" grow to where downloading a full DVD is down to whatever amount of time they are targeting, then it will be a problem.

And it is a problem when the studio may make hundreds of millions, the actors make tens of millions each, and some of the crew people are making $8.50 an hour on the Union scale. Please note: The figure of $8.50 an hour is only used as an example. I have no idea what the lowest paying crew person is making.

[Vejita-sama]

In a free market I think that each actor/exec is being paid as much as they are worth. Much like pro-sports I don't think that some of these guys are worth 5mil+/yr but someone does, and if they choose to pay them... well it's a free country.

I remember during this coming up during the baseball strike too. "Billionaries in a fight with millionaries." I'm all for greed, but these groups are on the verge of pricing themselves right out of the market. People will only pay so much. And since no one wants to be amoung the first group to take a pay cut, costs/salaries just keep going up until the whole system collapes.

[themichael]

<joke>

Anybody know where I can download a copy of these ads/trailers?

</joke>

Mike

[pbhalerao]

I am all for anti-piracy. But at the same time I do not agree that piracy robs junior artists:

In the television ads and in-theater spots makeup artists, set painters and other crafts people are used to deliver a clear message; piracy robs them of a living:

Quite a while ago, in 1992, I used to work on a project for "Our Price Music (OPM)" company in the UK. I was amazed to find that the music CDs were sold at £13.99 or higher in the retail outlet when the actual cost to OPM was £5 or less and that included royalty.

The rest of the markup was for employee costs and store profits.

[housepig]

all joking aside, most Public Service Announcements these days are downloadable, so I would check the MPAA website and see if it's up there.

...although wouldn't it be funny if they tried to bust you for "pirating" their PSA...

... I still want to find a downloadable copy of the "Crying Indian" PSA from the 70's...

[mkelley]

So, will we see any of these spots playing as trailers before "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

(And does anyone other than myself see an irony there if they do?)

[The village idiot]

... I still want to find a downloadable copy of the "Crying Indian" PSA from the 70's...

I'll check our tape library and see if we might still have it. If we do, do you want it in DVD, SVCD, or VCD resolution. That is, if it is on video tape, and not on film

[The village idiot]

So, will we see any of these spots playing as trailers before "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

(And does anyone other than myself see an irony there if they do?)

[housepig]

housepig wrote:

... I still want to find a downloadable copy of the "Crying Indian" PSA from the 70's...

I'll check our tape library and see if we might still have it. If we do, do you want it in DVD, SVCD, or VCD resolution. That is, if it is on video tape, and not on film

dvd resolution would be lovely... I'm also looking for another anti-littering ad I remember from my youth, it's a kid going deep outfield for a baseball, and he trips as he goes to catch it, and they freeze frame as you realize he's going to go face first into a pile of broken glass...

if you have it, that would be sweet. I'll have to find something that I can (legally) trade you...

[The village idiot]

Sorry, no luck.

[Laddydaddy]

In a free market I think that each actor/exec is being paid as much as they are worth.

A Libertarian stance if I ever saw one. I think the problem with this is that the free market is not determining the "worth" of the actors/actresses. If it were certain unnamed actors who haven't had a hit in years would not get such big salaries. The problem is that the studio execs are NOT listening to the free market. They apparently are the only one who think the actors are "worth" so much money. Hollywood is losing money because;
1. They turn out too many stinko films which are flops
2. They think certain has been actors are still "worth" big bucks
3. What used to be a cheap outing for the family has become a truly
expensive night on the town when you factor in the cost of the film,
soda, popcorn, etc.
When Hollywood truly listens to the free market, movies will become a cheap outing again and movie stars will take appropriate paycuts. At least the mediocre ones will.

[mysticgohan17]

i just saw a comercial similar to this one, all i have to say is this is some bull shit. they showed a clip from the original star wars trilogy. they say dont download because it affects the lively hoods of the little people. those people cant get paid from the star wars trilogy dvd if there is no star wars trilogy DVD.

[indolikaa]

I'm sorry for pirating "The Girls of Cell Block F" when I was 16. I won't do it again.

[mike_rach]

Sitting in the movie theater, with my GF spending over twenty bucks for two tickets and popcorn... I forgot which director it was, he was crying something about having to sell his 5th home in the Virgin Islands because of damn pirates... Made me feel sorry for him!

[mkelley]

Yes, this is actually a very good point -- in theater ads are exactly the *wrong* place for this kind of campaign. They are more than likely to alientate their audience, who are the ones paying the bills. Quite frankly, if I *do* see one of these at the movies I'm going to promptly go home and try and pirate one of these films just to show them <g>.

But I did see one on television the other day and it wasn't as obnoxious as I thought -- it's still a little hard to swallow watching James "more money than I can spend in a lifetime" Cameron asking us not to steal his hard work -- I wasn't going to steal it in the first place, Jimmy! Gee, Jimbo, I've already paid my hard earned dollars to see every movie you directed in the theaters and then turned around and bought them on expensive laser disc, then DVD, and now you're preaching to me about stealing? Maybe instead you should be making a commercial getting on your hands and knees and giving eternal and undying thanks to me and mine that we are funding your lifestyle in return for a few hours of entertainment you provide every three years or so!

[jolo]

Don't you feel sorry for those actors and director who get millions for a film no matter if it bombs or not !!

I think a good response to the industry is NOT to attend movie theaters and NOT to purchase movie DVDs or video tapes.

Borowing from the libary is cool, seeing somethinmg on HBO or something like that later is cool.

Watching a broadcast at a friends house is cool, on TV.

Purchasing pay per view movies is not cool.

Sending e-mails to those who participate on those ads is cool as well as asking them to borrow a few bucks.

Truly, their movies are not so important and neither are they.

[wgymiski]

Did anyone see where they blamed the media for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopezs movie not doing so well? Could it be that the movie might actually SUCK! Either way it goes they are going to blame someone or something.

[KiLLa]

Yea well its not too hard to figure out that "Gigli" sucks. First of all just look at the title, . I read the plot summary and i could barely keep from dying of laughter after reading that JLo was supposed to be a hitman . What the hell kind of BS movies are these idiots putting out? Jason X, Freddy Versus Jason, and a bunch of others. No wonder no one goes to the movies anymore.

[flaninacupboard]

Maybe all the great stories have just been done.

You couldn't make a film about rebels overthrowing an evil space government, that's be star wars. you couldn't make anything about robots or computers taking over the world, that's just the matrix of the terminator. never again will anyone be able to make a film about some scary aliens, it's been done. or UFO's being real, or a tense film about a murderer, or a nuclear weapon that's been stolen/hidden, or a virus that's out of control, or zombies on the loose, or werewolves or vampires or evil political conspiracies. there just isn't that many stories to tell anymore.... is there?

[mkelley]

Yep, and by the end of Shakesphere's life all the truly great romance stories had already been written. No use doing any more...

[tgm4883]

I got a story.....


James MacDougle was just a regular guy, with a wife and two kids, who wanted to protect his DVD investment by backing up his DVD's. He comes accross a website, www.dvdrhelp.com, to help him in his quest for backups. James posts his question and with the little knowledge he has of video editing decides to try and answer some questions from others. Having read the AUP he replies to some questions stating that warez is not premitted on the site, and even pastes some of the AUP for the original poster. Enter the MPAA. They have done a search for the words movie, editing, and warez and have come accross James's post.

One mans quest...... One mans journey...... One mans destiny......

[Reaper88]

So, will we see any of these spots playing as trailers before "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

(And does anyone other than myself see an irony there if they do?)

I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean and yes i saw one of there anit-pricay ads before the film.

[mkelley]

Or...

It is sometime in The Future. The Elite have invented a new art form which involves sound and light and which impacts directly on the brain to provide emotional response far beyond any conventional movie or music.

The Creators charge an astronomical price to experience this, and only the very richest can afford it. One day a poor man is wandering by the Creation Shop and manages to catch a waft of the art as it escapes from one of the unguarded windows. He is moved as never before by this, and has an understanding of life that was never possible to him without the experience -- and vows that he must do everything he can to continue to experience the Art.

But although the Creators are wealthy beyond this poor man's wildest dreams, they deny this experience to the poor and underprivledged. The man decides he will "steal" some of this art form, and share it with his fellow indigents. However, the Creators have tagged the forms and can trace them with a very sophisticated GPS -- and the punishment for such theft is death...

(This could actually be a very exciting film -- think about the sensibilities of "Minority Report" along with "Pirates of the Carribean").

[housepig]

Enter the MPAA. They have done a search for the words movie, editing, and warez and have come accross James's post

....and they read for context, realize how hard this site comes down on the side of protecting intellectual property rights beyond Fair Use, and they go on to a real warez board.

ahhhh, a happy ending.

[tgm4883]

yea, great ending. And it could be a non copy protected movie, with a special feature on the DVD release to aid in backing it up.

[flaninacupboard]

close tgm, you just need to work on the voiceover.

James MacDougle was just a regular guy, with a wife and two kids,
"hi honey, i'm home!"
He wanted to protect his DVD investment by backing up his DVD'swith the help of a website
"I found it!! it's called dvdrhelp.com !! quick, sever the connection, i have what we need!!"
Then he took it to the next level
"at first i just read the posts, then i started making my own. i couldn't stop!"
After helping bust a national online piracy ring, he knows he's in too deep.
*phone rings*
"hello?" "you know who this is." "oh my god, how did you get this number"
*door bell rings, he runs*
The MPAA have found the man they have been looking for.
One mans quest......
"I never thought i'd find it"
One mans JOURNEY......
"Get outta here now, you still have time!!!"
One mans....DESTINY......
*exploding DVD rack*

Garunteed blockbuster with an advert like that.

[tgm4883]

but not before some great chase, and fight scenes. and maybe some john woo special effects

[tgm4883]

close tgm, you just need to work on the voiceover.

James MacDougle was just a regular guy, with a wife and two kids,
"hi honey, i'm home!"
He wanted to protect his DVD investment by backing up his DVD'swith the help of a website
"I found it!! it's called dvdrhelp.com !! quick, sever the connection, i have what we need!!"
Then he took it to the next level
"at first i just read the posts, then i started making my own. i couldn't stop!"
After helping bust a national online piracy ring, he knows he's in too deep.
*phone rings*
"hello?" "you know who this is." "oh my god, how did you get this number"
*door bell rings, he runs*
The MPAA have found the man they have been looking for.
One mans quest......
"I never thought i'd find it"
One mans JOURNEY......
"Get outta here now, you still have time!!!"
One mans....DESTINY......
*exploding DVD rack*

Garunteed blockbuster with an advert like that.

Its perfect, but i have a feeling that i am going to have to shoot this one with the personal camcorder.