by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Politics, TV
Leading the piracy parade is ‘better than an Emmy’? Please, speak for yourself Mr. Bewkes…
According a story yesterday in AdWeek, another well-paid executive linked to the HBO hit “Game of Thrones” is once again singing the praises of online piracy. Last time it was HBO’s programming president Michael Lombardo, now Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has joined the chorus.
…in response to a question about whether the network kinda-sorta regards the extensive theft of HBO’s flagship show, Game of Thrones, as a compliment, Bewkes said, “I have to admit it, I think you’re right.” The much-discussed fantasy series is HBO’s most popular, and “if you go to people who are watching it without subs, it’s a tremendous word-of-mouth thing,” the exec told investors. “We’ve been dealing with this for 20, 30 years—people sharing subs, running wires down the backs of apartment buildings. Our experience is that it leads to more paying subs. I think you’re right that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world,” he said. “That’s better than an Emmy.”
Yeah sure, easy to say if you’re CEO of Time Warner and have a huge hit like HBO’s “Game of Thrones” on your hands. But really, given that you work in the media industry Mr. Bewkes, didn’t you have a clue as to the impact your glib “soundbite” would have on an already hyperbolic debate over online piracy and copyright reform?
Fine Time Warner/HBO, feel free give your show away and boast that the record (pirate) downloading of Game of Thrones episodes is a hunky-dory thing for your bottom line. In your case, it may well be….more power to you.
The problem is that when Jeff Bewkes muses to a reporter that, for a hit show like Game of Thrones, piracy is “better than an Emmy” it can lead the general public to assume the same reality applies to all content creators. Certainly piracy apologists are likely to make hay–and headlines–out of it.
Perhaps creators whose works have been massively pirated can take some solace from Bewkes’ success, but the fact is his experience (and that of HBO programming) is not one matched by their own. The Time Warner CEO likely doesn’t have much difficulty paying bills (or financing his next production) like so many do. Many filmmakers don’t have the reach (or deep pockets) of HBO and, like it or not, for them online piracy (driven by black market profiteers) is a detriment to success–not a sign of it. Bewkes’ self-serving proclamation does little to advance or clarify the debate over how best to mitigate the corrosive impact that online piracy (for profit) has on artists.
Next time CEO Bewkes should choose his words more carefully and explain that for HBO, the popularity of Game of Thrones is a measure of success that helps generate buzz that’s good for business–but that it’s important to differentiate between their distribution landscape and the one faced by so many others.
If he feels his words were misconstrued (webcast available here) he should clarify his remarks sooner rather than later for the sake of those whose livelihoods do suffer because of unchecked online theft.
by Ellen Seidler | Film, TV
Streaming brings viewers quality stories and a cornucopia of great roles for women
I don’t watch a great deal of television, but when I do, more and more I find myself drawn to Netflix. I recently watched two excellent dramas, Jane Campion’s “Top of the Lake” and “The Fall” a BBC production starring Gillian Anderson. The migration for dramatic storytelling from cable TV and movie theaters to streaming services does not diminish the “film industry” but enhances it– demonstrating film’s enduring role in our creative culture and opening up new ways of cinematic storytelling in the process.
Last night I sat down to check out Netflix’s new series “Orange is the New Black.” I hadn’t read anything about it and had intended to watch only the first 55 minute episode….yeah, right. Five hours later I finally turned out the lights and went to bed. In fact, I was so drawn into the show that I had to really force myself to stop watching. I had succumbed to binge viewing in all its obsessive glory.
Jenji Kohan, the creator of Showtime’s “Weeds,” is behind the new comedy/drama that takes place in a women’s prison in upstate New York. Loosely based on a memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman, the series revels in rich multi-cultural characters and their compelling, often poignant, back stories. There is much humor amid the tears, and the show does have moments that are almost shocking in their un sanitized frankness, but it’s all done in service of the story.
Tatiana Maslany plays 6 roles in Orphan Black
I approach the joy of binge-viewing such quality programs with mixed feelings. On the one hand I love experiencing the unfolding narrative over the course of an evening, but at the same time dread when it comes to an end–an experience I recently had with the compelling BBC-America series “Orphan Black” (which I recorded and watched via DirecTV on-demand).
The added bonus of being able to watch these shows on Netflix is having the chance to watch so many talented women display their acting craft in such a variety of rich roles. Whether it be Tatiana Maslany playing multiple versions of her clone or Elisabeth Moss shedding her Mad Men persona for a Kiwi cop, rich female characters are sadly few and far between in most traditional Hollywood fare. In fact, according to a recent USC Annenberg study that reveals women receive less than one third of the speaking roles in 2012.
Across five years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012), 500 top-grossing films at the U.S. box office, and over 21,000 speaking characters, a new study by USC Annenberg found that females represented less than one-third (28.4%) of all speaking characters in 2012 films. When they are on screen, 31% of women in 2012 were shown with at least some exposed skin, and 31.6% were depicted wearing sexually revealing clothing.
Even worse? “There has been no meaningful change in the prevalence of women on screen across the five years studied. In fact, 2012 features the lowest percentage of females in the five years covered in this report,” said Communication Professor Stacy L. Smith, the principal investigator. “The last few years have seen a wealth of great advocacy for more women on screen. Unfortunately, that investment has not yet paid off with an increase in female characters or a decrease in their hypersexualization.”
Streaming has made finding shows featuring diverse female characters a whole lot easier and the good news is that Netflix has already renewed “Orange is the New Black” for a second season. My 8 bucks a month is money well-spent.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Law, Music, Piracy, Politics, TV
David Kaplan, head of Warner Brother’s anti-piracy unit made news this week in Los Angeles at the 4th Anti-Piracy and Content Protection Summit. According to a Q & A with Kaplan posted on the event’s website, he characterized the studio’s approach to IP enforcement this way:
Generally speaking, we view piracy as a proxy of consumer demand. Accordingly, enforcement related efforts are balanced with looking at ways to adjust or develop business models to take advantage of that demand by offering fans what they are looking for when they are looking for it.
Of course this makes sense. Piracy apologists often attempt to rationalize the dubious notion that consumers are entitled to have everything available–anytime, anywhere– by charging that obsolete distribution models are a sign that distributors are ignoring audience demand.
However, it’s not as simple as it may seem. The reality is that it takes time to build new business methods–and meanwhile, in the thriving universe of digital theft–as is true with most black markets–the pirate’s model has never been constrained by such “trivial” issues as contracts, licensing, budgets, or the law.
In an ideal world filmmakers would be able to release their films to worldwide audience simultaneously. With models like day and date release finding success, it’s likely such an approach will someday become the norm.
But…even when that day does arrive, the other elephant in the room remains-Will consumers be willing to pay instead of going to pirate sites that offer fast and free options with the click of a mouse? Finding efficient ways to meet audience immediate demand only solves one piece of the piracy puzzle. The other is how to thwart the black market entrepreneurs who compete directly with legit distributors? Remember–profit comes easy when a business has little, to no overhead costs associated with the content it offers.
Kaplan sees this issue as a “top priority.”
I think our top priority would be to remove the financial incentives from
those who would profit by building businesses based on the unauthorized exploitation
of our intellectual property. A close second would be educating consumer about the
importance of IP protection and the availability of legitimate alternatives to piracy.
I’ve said it before –if the financial incentives to run pirate websites disappear, and popular content made readily available through legit channels, piracy’s impact will diminish. The problem remains–how do we get there? At a time where content creators are adapting to online distribution, ad providers, search engines, web hosts, and payment processors continue to drag their feet when it comes to making real inroads against infrastructure and incentives that underpin digital piracy.
n the White House’s just released “2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement” the word “voluntary” appears 36 times including this statement:
The U.S. Government is pursuing an innovative and multi-pronged strategy to combat infringing foreign based and foreign-controlled websites by encouraging cooperation by law enforcement, development
of voluntary best practices, and international leadership…
The White House document also offers this carefully worded prescription as one path forward combatting IP theft online:
22. Facilitate Voluntary Initiatives to Reduce Online Intellectual Property Infringement and Illegal Internet Pharmacies
As an Administration, we have adopted the approach of encouraging the private sector to develop and implement cooperative voluntary initiatives to reduce infringement that are practical and effective. It is critical that such efforts be undertaken in a manner that is consistent with all applicable laws and with the Administration’s broader Internet policy principles emphasizing privacy, free speech, competition, and due process. Together with law enforcement efforts, private sector voluntary actions can dramatically reduce online infringement and change the enforcement paradigm. We encourage all participants to continue to work with all interested stakeholders, including consumer advocacy groups, to ensure that voluntary initiatives are as effective and transparent as possible.
It’s great to think that we can all reach a consensus to combat the scourge of piracy through “cooperation.” However, the fact is there’s still a very long way to go. Until ad providers, advertisers and companies like Facebook and Google, whose tentacles reach far and wide throughout piracy’s infrastructure, get serious about cleaning up the act all this talk about “voluntary” initiatives is just talk.
The fact is, when it comes to profiting from online piracy, money speaks louder than words. It may just take a bit more “law enforcement” to make those responsible pay attention and take meaningful action to clean up their acts.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Piracy, TV
By now it’s old news that HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones” is currently the most pirated show on TV (followed by the CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory”). In today’s LA Times, Alexandra Le Tellier published a piece “If you want to watch ‘Game of Thrones,’ pay for it.” explaining how online piracy is not something to be celebrated, but rather an activity that ultimately undermines our art and those who toil to make it (not just the well-paid executives).
She calls out director David Petrarca, who’s directed 2 episodes of Game of Thrones, for his ill-conceived comments that the rampant piracy of the HBO series did “more good than harm” because it helped generate “buzz.” It’s a sentiment that has been echoed by others attached to the show. As I wrote in an earlier post, HBO’s programming president Michael Lombardo made similar tone-deaf comments recently in Entertainment Weekly:
I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts…The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.
Ms. Le Tellier argues that studios have marketing departments whose job it is to create such buzz and zeros in on the heart of the issue when she writes:
It should be up to the creators and stakeholders to decide how to distribute their programs for consumption and nurture “cultural buzz.”
Exactly! From my earlier post on Michael Lombardo’s comments regarding Game of Thrones piracy:
…a man with the stature and success of Mr. Lombardo should know better than to blabber on in such a thoughtless way about an issue, that for many filmmakers, cannot afford to be taken so lightly. Sure, it would be great if everyone had the reach and resources of HBO, but the fact is we don’t, and for us–no matter how you spin it–piracy is not a positive. The arrogance Lombardo showed in blithely dismissing piracy’s impact on HBO’s bottom line did a huge disservice to the many content creators for whom piracy negatively impacts both their bottom line and their livelihoods.
Ms. Le Tellier asks the question that so many of us do. If piracy is allowed to flourish unchecked, and even be celebrated by some, “What happens to art when artists can no longer afford to make it?” Her piece is spot on and I urge you to read it in its entirety here.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Law, Piracy, Politics, TV
Some good news from my neck of the woods as California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office had filed charges against 3 brothers who operated pirate websites featuring stolen movies and TV shows. According to a press release issued today, the 3 Bay Area men, Hop Hoang, 26, Tony Hoang, 23, and Huynh Hoang, 20, could face up to five years in prison if convicted. The brothers were arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court yesterday on charges that they operated a website (mediamp4.com) that allowed users access to illegal streams of more than 1,000 copyrighted TV shows and movies. More from the press release:
The three have each been charged with one count of conspiracy, four counts of receiving stolen property and one count of grand theft.
“Digital piracy is theft. It is a serious crime that harms one of California’s most important economic engines – our entertainment industry,” said Attorney General Harris. “This case sends a clear message that the California Department of Justice will investigate digital piracy and prosecute violators to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) initially began an investigation into iphonetvshows.net and movieiphone.net and sent a cease and desist letter to Tony Hoang. Thereafter, Tony Hoang and his co-defendant brothers allegedly resumed the illegal operation under a new domain name, mediamp4.com. The Attorney General’s office then initiated an investigation into mediamp4.com, executed a search warrant, seized property used in connection with the illegal operation and filed charges against the Hoang brothers.
Is this the beginning of a positive trend in the battle against online piracy? Last week we saw Mississippi’s AG Jim Hood raise concerns over Google’s links to illegal online activity and now California’s AG Kamala D. Harris steps into the fray. The California investigation was directed by the eCrime Unit of the California Attorney General’s Office, California Highway Patrol, and REACT (Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team) a law enforcement task force located in Silicon Valley specializing in investigating technology crimes and identity theft.
It’s alleged that the brothers earned approximately $150,000 over the past 18 months through advertising and that they drove traffic to the site via Google search ads. Once again this illustrates the ongoing link between the lure of piracy profits via online advertising and these illegal websites. The pirates are not in business for altruistic reasons; they were pirating content because it pays.
Kudos too, to the MPAA that initiated the initial investigation. Let’s not forget that taking down illegal online piracy sites not only benefits Hollywood movie-makers, but also helps independent filmmakers around the globe in the ongoing battle to protect their films from being stolen and monetized by thieves. As MPPA CEO and former Senator Chris Dodd explained,
There are now nearly 80 legal online services in the United States dedicated to providing movies and television shows to viewers. But to realize the enormous potential of these businesses and ensure an Internet that works for everyone, it is critical that government, content creators, the tech community and others work together to stop illegal rogue sites.
I tried to visit the website in question but it’s apparently already been taken offline and the domain parked, but I did find this YouTube “review” for the site which pretty much covers its (former) operations. Watching this review it seems evident that the site was designed to allow users to easily stream or watch pirated content on iPhones, iPads or computers.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPeEjRJ_tiQ&w=560&h=315]
I must say, it was heartening to hear the reviewer note that it is “becoming harder and harder to find good sites.” Let’s hope other state attorney generals get on board. Bit by bit, piece by piece, we are making progress against the black market business of online piracy.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, TV
There’s a new one-stop shop in town that provides audiences with an easy (and comprehensive) way to find television shows and movies online. It’s called WheretoWatch.org . Some might view this a redundant, after all why not just use a search engine?– but I would disagree. Unfortunately when one searches for a movie or show online it often means ending up on a website slathered with pop-up ads and malware (and pirated content).
This site, developed by the MPAA, serves to give consumers a way to find the various legit online streaming services via a simple interface. It beats Google search any day. I give it a two thumbs up.
