MPAA Now Using Private Investigators?

Although, I do admit I see that excuse from some people pirating movies. Not a valid reason, IMO, either.
 
Ur_Mom said:
Yea, but what gets the blame on shitty movies? MPAA usually claims piracy. Some movies are so bad that even pirates won't download it. They still get blamed for 'poor sales'.
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That matters very little. When a movie fails, it is the studio that loses money. Scapegoating doesn't save them.
 
If anything this just highlights how hopeless it is for the MPAA. If catching a couple of dudes camming a movie is considered a 'piracy victory' then they sure as shit have a long and brutal road ahead of them.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
That matters very little. When a movie fails, it is the studio that loses money. Scapegoating doesn't save them.
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No, it doesn't. But, movies that fail are used as examples of piracy hurting sales. Hurt Locker was one, and I know I've heard of others. Although, After Earth has their reason and people really like saying it, too - Jayden Smith and his fathers pushing him into the superstar actor role...
 
Ur_Mom said:
No, it doesn't. But, movies that fail are used as examples of piracy hurting sales. Hurt Locker was one, and I know I've heard of others. Although, After Earth has their reason and people really like saying it, too - Jayden Smith and his fathers pushing him into the superstar actor role...
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Hurt Locker didn't fail. It earned $35 million at the box office alone. ($15 million budget, $50 million in ticket sales) Shit, After Earth earned something like $120 million at the box office.

When movies do actually fail and piracy is blamed, how does pirating that content change anything? People are playing into this scapegoating thing. The more people just stop giving studios money and start adopting streaming methods like Netflix and Amazon, the less we have to put up with bullshit films and bullshit film industry practices. Piracy only serves to give immediate gratification for pirates. It is not a productive economic or political statement.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
When movies do actually fail and piracy is blamed, how does pirating that content change anything? People are playing into this scapegoating thing. The more people just stop giving studios money and start adopting streaming methods like Netflix and Amazon, the less we have to put up with bullshit films and bullshit film industry practices. Piracy only serves to give immediate gratification for pirates. It is not a productive economic or political statement.
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I just don't like seeing piracy blamed when it is less of an issue than it is shown by the MPAA (like they lose billions upon billions of dollars). Piracy sucks, but it's not the main reason for falling profits as MPAA and studios are saying. When people stop giving them money for shitty movies, it should be because of the low quality of the film, not piracy.

Piracy shouldn't be a statement. I close my wallet and wait for the rental. I don't pirate the movie. Yet, I'm treated like a pirate at theaters (hiring PI's, folks in nightvision, etc..) and at home after I buy a movie (commercials, warnings). Who is using piracy as a statement? MPAA uses it much more than pirates do.

I hear people asking how they can copy or download movies after seeing that you can do it from those commercials. They thought you had to buy it at the swap meet or whatever. They didn't realize that you can just download it from the internet in a couple hours and watch it that way. So, some of those anti-piracy ads are educating people, but not the way they were intended.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Hurt Locker didn't fail. It earned $35 million at the box office alone. ($15 million budget, $50 million in ticket sales) Shit, After Earth earned something like $120 million at the box office.
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http://beforeitsnews.com/media/2012...edly-forgets-to-tell-the-lawyers-1570275.html

That studio is Voltage Pictures, which blamed piracy/file-sharing (depending on your point of view) for that poor box office performance. It may not have helped, but to blame it entirely was way over the top. The next step was to go after thousands of alleged pirates looking for compensation.
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LeninGHOLA said:
Hurt Locker didn't fail. It earned $35 million at the box office alone. ($15 million budget, $50 million in ticket sales) Shit, After Earth earned something like $120 million at the box office.
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After Earth - $130 Million budget, $60 million in gross US sales.
 
Ur_Mom said:
No edit. Source : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1815862/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus
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http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=1000ae.htm

Total Lifetime Grosses


Domestic:

$60,522,097

24.8%

+ Foreign:

$183,321,030

75.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

= Worldwide:

$243,843,127
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How many millions are earned is fairly meaningless to the discussion. We are pretty much just debating how much effect lawyer propaganda has on public perception. The MPAA will fail because of draconian measures as well as not keeping up with trends.
 
MPAA needs to face reality. movie theaters are becoming extinct in this digital world were everything is on-demand right here, right now. Who the hell wants to pay $10 US dollars to see a 90 minute movie when it will be on DVD in a few months.

Add popcorn, and soda, now you just spent $20 bux and most of these movies coming out are total crap anyway. .At home, i don't need to deal with sticky floors, annoying kids on there cell phones and uncomfortable seats.
 
Need balls of steel to do a cam in the US. The penalties for piracy are beyond ridiculous. Guessing this guy ends up in maximum security prison and solitary confinement for life + some 50mil fine or something retarded like that.

Here in Canada it's usually the employees that do it, and hook the sound straight to the output. :D Nobody cares about it because it hurts no one.
 
c0re said:
Who the hell wants to pay $10 US dollars to see a 90 minute movie when it will be on DVD in a few months.
...
At home, i don't need to deal with sticky floors, annoying kids on there cell phones and uncomfortable seats.
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Lots of people. And that's not going to change anytime soon.

Saying nothing in defense of the MPAA, bottom line is -- people like to go out. People like to get out of their houses once in a while. And say what you will of the prices, but a date to the movies is a (relatively) cheap date when compared with most other events (theater, sports, dinner, etc.).

Sure, people have souped-up, bass-pumping home theaters now that could make a grown Arnold Schwarzenegger cry. But no one wants to stay home every Friday and Saturday night, tucked away in their precious home theater that even doubles as a bathroom with toilets for seats.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Need balls of steel to do a cam in the US. The penalties for piracy are beyond ridiculous. Guessing this guy ends up in maximum security prison and solitary confinement for life + some 50mil fine or something retarded like that.

Here in Canada it's usually the employees that do it, and hook the sound straight to the output. :D Nobody cares about it because it hurts no one.
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It depends. I'm sure a few of those people that pirate it would have gone to the theater otherwise. The majority wouldn't go at all. So, it's not lost sales. But, it is seeing a movie that you didn't pay admission to. Hurts a little, but not as much as you're lead to believe by MPAA.

I guess you can say that a store like Walmart wouldn't notice someone stealing candy bars. I realize the whole physical vs. non-physical argument, but I'm talking lost funds. Would the guy stealing those candy bars buy them if he couldn't get them for free? Maybe/maybe not. Would a huge place like Walmart notice? Probably not. But, you are still taking something you did not pay for. Someone has to pay for that loss. Be it the theater in less folks showing up (a lot of other reasons for that), studios making less money (still making a ton) or whoever. There is an impact, no matter how small.

To use that as a reason to or not to pirate is up to the user that pirates or downloads the video... or music.... or game.... When you do go watch a great movie, or buy a great game, you are telling the studio that you support them and want more great things from them. "Vote with your wallet" is a saying thrown around a lot. When you pirate, you are voting with your wallet, telling them that you do not want them to make more movies, as you won't even support them for that. No buy = no support. Same with games or music. Vote with your wallet. You like it, buy it. You don't - don't buy it (same as liking it and pirating it - same message to the studio).
 
Coldblackice said:
Saying nothing in defense of the MPAA, bottom line is -- people like to go out. People like to get out of their houses once in a while. And say what you will of the prices, but a date to the movies is a (relatively) cheap date when compared with most other events (theater, sports, dinner, etc.).

Sure, people have souped-up, bass-pumping home theaters now that could make a grown Arnold Schwarzenegger cry. But no one wants to stay home every Friday and Saturday night, tucked away in their precious home theater that even doubles as a bathroom with toilets for seats.
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I have a decent HT. Big screen, big sub, it's great. But, going to the theater is still fun. Much bigger screen, some loud audio, the whole experience. I've been going since I was 3 (Star Wars!) and it's always fun. I don't like going for comedies or things like that. Prices got too high, and most of those shows are just the same on a small TV... No real reason for the big screen experience. Others, like Man of Steel, Independence Day, Avengers, beg to be seen on the big screen. They are theatrical movies. Great on the small screen, but AWESOME on the big screen. When Star Wars was reshown in theaters, it was packed. It was another one that just has to be seen huge and in that type of experience.

Going out is fun. You get out to see other people, go for a date, go outside the house. Sometimes, that's for a good movie, other times it's for bowling or dinner or whatever. :)
 
Ur_Mom said:
It's that attitude that the MPAA/RIAA has. That all of their customers are potential pirates. That really works to bring people to the cause. I buy a movie and I'm forced to watch a few minutes of anti-piracy notices and maybe a commercial. I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THE MOVIE, yet I'm being told not to pirate it. I can pirate it and not get that message. Somehow, I think the MPAA is going after the wrong people.

I don't condone piracy. If you think it's a good movie, go check it out. If not, wait for the rental. For me, I've been burned on quite a few theatrical releases, so I rarely go. I see the big blockbusters or those that I really have an interest in (Man of Steel, huge Superman fan).But, for most other 'interesting' movies, I stay away until the Blu-ray release. So, they lost sales due to shit movies, not piracy. I think people should pay for what they watch or listen to.

The MPAA is overpaid for what they do. And if a studio doesn't pay the MPAA, they don't get the rating. They don't get the rating, they can't show in most theaters (otherwise the theater loses the MPAA releases). MPAA is a legal mafia. Intimidation, lawsuits, paying off politicians (or going from MPAA to politician) are all them. The studios, actors and other studio employees? They've earned the money. Sadly, they have to pay the MPAA for 'protection'.
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Im not a huge movie person,hardly ever goto the theaters anymore because no movie interest me really anymore. I usually only "acquire" movies that i want to watch that day. I see no point in buying a dvd for a moive i dont really care about and that i might watch once. Plus actors/directors/studios are way overpaid, actors are paid millions of dollars to memorize a script and recite it in front of a camera,they do little to nothing that benefits society or our well being. Call me jealous that i have to waste my life away working full time and never achieving their financial status,while they work for a few months and get 5mil+ and get to act like pretensions assholes in public.
/rant
 
Ur_Mom said:
I've been going since I was 3 (Star Wars!) and it's always fun.
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Wow, I'm surprised you remember going since 3. I don't recall seeing Star Wars in the theater but I do recall seeing Empire Strikes Back when it came out at age 5, so I can vouch for the experience and memories a movie can create.
 
ravx25 said:
Wow, I'm surprised you remember going since 3. I don't recall seeing Star Wars in the theater but I do recall seeing Empire Strikes Back when it came out at age 5, so I can vouch for the experience and memories a movie can create.
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Just a static image. One of the early memories that I remember. I described it to my Dad and he backs it up as legit (although, he was high at the time of the movie). But, he was a big movie guy, and so I went to a lot more after that. :)
 
nvgrim said:
Im not a huge movie person,hardly ever goto the theaters anymore because no movie interest me really anymore. I usually only "acquire" movies that i want to watch that day. I see no point in buying a dvd for a moive i dont really care about and that i might watch once. Plus actors/directors/studios are way overpaid, actors are paid millions of dollars to memorize a script and recite it in front of a camera,they do little to nothing that benefits society or our well being. Call me jealous that i have to waste my life away working full time and never achieving their financial status,while they work for a few months and get 5mil+ and get to act like pretensions assholes in public.
/rant
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What about the grip? Assistant to the assistant of the caterer? They don't get overpaid at all. I think of it less as paying their wages, though, and instead paying them to create more content. A bribe, if you will. :D

I buy my movies on physical media because I like having that there. I do rip them for use on the server, but I do buy the original copy. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon do great for filling in the gaps. I haven't had the need to pirate a movie in quite a long time.

I do think theaters and the industry as a whole needs to make some changes to succeed in the marketplace. They are still using the same formula they did in the 70's. Pay a lot for a ticket, which 90% goes to the studio and MPAA and the rest is split up between the theater and the distributor. The soda/popcorn/candy is overpriced, but the profits are what makes the theater survive. Ticket sales should give more to theaters, but cost less. I would go to a lot more movies if prices were lower. What used to cost me $10 for a trip to the movies is closer to $20 or more. Easily $60 if I take the family ($36 in tickets alone for 4). I could go to Walmart, pick up a few Blu-rays and go home and watch some great new movies.

Hell, given the opportunity, I think I'd pay to stream a new, theatrical release movie to home for $20. Still, a single view movie, but the price would be attractive and the timing is great. But, they have little control over copying with that, so it'd be a no-go.
 
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