Courses

The vast majority of pirated movies begin with a simple camcorder in “a theater near you”. It’s big business, largely controlled by organized crime and devastating to the filmed entertainment industry.

Most recent studies estimate the annual revenue loss to Hollywood at nearly $6 billion dollars. Declining DVD and flat Blu-Ray sales, combined with digital download options are causing enormous shifts in production financing and distribution strategies. The loser in the short run is the  crop of college graduates seeking the very jobs that piracy destroys.

Hollywood loses millions of dollars each year as consumers download or stream content without paying for it. The 'trickle down' consequences affect non-studio positions at post production and production suppliers, caterers, restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses that rely on the local media industry for economic health. The U.S. economy loses too, since American movies and television products are among the country's largest exports.

Pirates aren't concerned about Hollywood's economic health or about the jobs lost directly or indirectly to internet theft. Pirates are simply seizing an opportunity to supply a market that doesn't connect the consequences of theft to the 'innocent' downloading of first-run features from organized crime operations in Asia, Russia and South America. The consumers of pirated goods are generally honest people who are duped into thinking that stealing is OK because Hollywood "makes too much money" and "content should be free". 

In this four-part series, Michael Karagosian will review the technologies, methods, attitudes, and challenges involved in the war against camcorder theft in cinemas.  Pam Allison discusses how thieves acquire content and draws the distinction between the consumers of pirated goods and the pirates themselves. Patrick Gregston discusses the history of watermarking to protect copyright holders and how modern updates to this technique are helping the filmed entertainment industry battle piracy in the 21st century. Last, Richard Atkinson walks us through a methodical approach to first understanding piracy as a business problem, and then using rationalized ways to effectively compete with - and ultimately leverage - the dynamics of media piracy.