The MPAA is one of the most revolting associations I can think of (yes, RIAA also comes to mind). Not only do they do nothing to increase the artistic or creative value of film but they are anti-consumer and anti-viewer.
The lastest example of the MPAA’s wrongheadedness is their advice to school teachers who would like to use pieces of DVDs in their teaching. Instead of doing the simple, cost-effective and flexible thing – rip the DVD to a usable file format allowing it to be quickly and easily incorporated into the lesson plan – the MPAA is actually telling teachers that they should videotape the monitor showing the DVD and use the resulting tape.
What?!
Not only would that seem to send the message to students that videotaping a copyprotected screening of a movie is ok – something the MPAA goes to nearly criminal lengths to prevent – but it’s incredibly more time-consuming and complicated than simply ripping the file.
We’re not even talking about the rights of a consumer to rip a DVD they have already purchased but the rights of a teacher to create a dynamic lesson plan – a clear example of “fair use.”
The only silver lining is that the more boneheaded the MPAA reveals itself to be the more likely they are to hasten their own extinction.
The producers of a very cool documentary called “RIP! A Remix Manifesto” faced a common dillema in the film these days. Their investors wanted to make sure that their chances of recouping weren’t undermined by piracy and the films DVD and theatrical distributors had similar concerns.
In an interview in Wired.com the producer said something quite smart:
We knew the film would appear on file-sharing networks immediately and we knew the audience for the film wanted and expected it to be online. So knowing that, we wanted there to be a method for those who wanted to pay to do so.
So, instead of figuring out a way to limit the reach of the film or threatening to sue and prosecute potential fans and evangelists, they decided to put up a “pay-what-you-want” download of the film.
It makes so much more sense to embrace the current technology and the desire of fans to access content in a flexible manner than it does to try and handcuff your content and treat potential fans like potential criminals.
A few months ago a truly charming webseries launched called “Old Jews Telling Jokes.” In an initial stroke of marketing genius, the series is exactly what the title promises:
Now comes word that the series is going out wide on home video:
First Run Features has picked up domestic home video rights to “Old Jews Telling Jokes,” a Web video series created and directed by Sam Hoffman from Jetpack Media, the Internet production company created by GreeneStreet Films.
“Jews” has registered more than 1.5 million video plays since the series launched Jan. 30. It also was a top 10 video podcast on iTunes for several weeks.
What I love most about this story is that it proves that anyone with a truly good idea and some authenticity can be recognized and rewarded all thanks to the incredible democratic powers of the internet.
Now, I’m not totally sure what home video rights are worth these days but considering that this series has such a broad potential audience of older folks it wouldn’t be surprising if First Look was able to turn a profit on DVDs.
Here is what makes the whole DRM issue so absurd. All these companies claim that, for one weak reason or another, they “need” DRM to protect their property. The problem is that DRM simply doesn’t do anything to stop people from copying the content and moving it to other formats.
In addition, it seems that nobody minds breaking the terms of service, and maybe even the law, to remove the DRM from products that they have bought. Case in point is this recent article in Wired magazine that details how to make DVD from movies you’ve bought via iTunes. Just remember:
Because movies and TV shows purchased from iTunes store have DRM copy-protection, you have to remove the DRM protection before burning them to DVDs for playback on your home DVD player.
Now, here’s the kicker. Nowhere in this well-written and easy-to-follow how-to article is there any mention that there is anything wrong with stripping off the DRM that was included, one assumes, as a way to stop users from doing exactly what this article demonstrates.
Is this an case of Wired giving out detailed information on how to break the law or is it simply more proof that DRM is a broken system that should be retired poste-haste?
Considering the rapid growth of streaming movies on demand, the following “service” from Warner Bros. leaves me scratching my head:
Upon the selection and purchase of a title — at $19.95 per disc — Warners will burn, package and ship the DVD to customers for receipt within an estimated five days. The studio plans to increase initial inventory in its virtual vault by 20 titles per month and make more than 300 film and TV titles available online by year’s end.
Ok, so these are movies that are not currently available for purchase on DVD any other way but why would Warner waste time and energy on a dying technology when they could offer the exact same service with a next-to-zero waiting time by making this catalogue available for on-demand streaming? Not sure they could charge $20 a movie but they also wouldn’t have to be in the DVD delivery business.
I guess having this service available for the technological stragglers is all well and good but it is disheartening that there is no mention of a complimentary streaming service. Without that option, it means that these movies will quickly end up on the torrent tracker sites where those not willing the wait five days for the movie will happily download it for free.
Another missed opportunity that will be blamed on pirates instead of on the head-in-the-sand mentality of the studios.
No matter what the boneheads at RIAA try to say, the fact is that music is now a digital commodity and thus it is no longer possible to force people to pay $12.99 for an album when the exact same songs are easily accessible for free – and it doesn’t matter how many people they sue.
Instead, smart bands and musicians are realizing that if they want to make money they are going to have to sell something else instead of just recordings of their songs. This means more focus on live performance (tough to pirate that) and merchandise.
U2 is going all-out to offer their true fans a reason to pony up their hard-earned cash for a hard copy of their latest album “No Line On The Horizon.”
The box, seemingly inspired by Apple, includes a poster of a seascape photograph by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, a DVD of an Anton Corbijn film and a hardcover book with interviews and photographs that document the making of the album. With a shiny mother-of-pearl-effect logo superimposed over Sugimoto’s photo on the CD case and yet another booklet and fold-out poster inside… (via)
This goes along with the interesting trend that sees the sale of vinyl records going up while CD sales plummet. Offering true fans a real connection and a sense of value is the only way to get them to give you real money.
Every year the MPAA claims to be doing everything in its power to stop pirates from destroying the film industry. Of course, what they really mean is that they are wasting millions of dollars and work-hours.
Not only does there seem to be little proof that pirated downloads are actually hurting the film industry’s bottomline but the efforts of the MPAA are doing nothing to stop it:
Waxy.org’s Andy Baio has once again published an extensive collection of data about this year’s Oscar nominations and their availability on P2P networks. He’s been doing this for the last seven years, during which the overall picture has remained pretty much the same; almost all Oscar nominated movies are available on file-sharing networks before the annual awards ceremony. In fact of the 26 movies that were nominated this year, 23 are already available in DVD quality on P2P networks. (via NewTeeVee)
While this same article points out that it is taking longer for pirates to get copies to the internet, by a matter of days from year-to-year, it makes it very clear that the major studios are going to have to figure out a new approach to fighting the pirates other than chasing them around the net with “cease and desist” orders and dragging fans into court.
Maybe they should, um, take a few lessons from the pirates and begin releasing usable digital copies themselves without endless forms of DRM that cripple the end-users ability to do what they want with the movie.
Two stories caught my attention, both of which add evidence to the idea that giving your content away for free can actually increase your overall potential for montization – or as I like to say, Cashification.
First, Mashable has some follow-up to Monty Python’s innovative approach to combatting pirated clips on YouTube – they made their own YouTube channel where they posted everything they’d ever done for free. They also provided links to the actual DVDs and CDs for sales at Amazon and iTunes. Can you guess what happened next?
Monty Python’s DVDs climbed to No. 2 on Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list, with increased sales of 23,000 percent.
Still not convinced. How about this from TechDirt in their story about idpendent musician Coery Smith, who both offers his music for download free on his own site and for money via iTunes:
However, as an experiment, they took down the free tracks from Corey’s website for a period of time last summer… and sales on iTunes went down. Once again, this proves how ridiculous the claim is that free songs somehow cannibalize sales.
The fact that there are so many stories like these makes it ever more difficult to accept the current business practices of the major music labels and studios. While they spend more time and money on hunting down and prosecuting their one-time customers their current customers are running our of patience and will jump ship, too.
Kevin Kelly has a great post on the notion of moving from an ownership-based world to an access-based world. Here’s a taste:
Very likely, in the near future, I won’t “own” any music, or books, or movies. Instead I will have immediate access to all music, all books, all movies using an always-on service, via a subscription fee or tax. I won’t buy – as in make a decision to own — any individual music or books because I can simply request to see or hear them on demand from the stream of ALL. I may pay for them in bulk but I won’t own them. The request to enjoy a work is thus separated from the more complicated choice of whether I want to “own” it. I can consume a movie, music or book without having to decide or follow up on ownership.
In many ways, a lot of us are already there. The truth is I haven’t bought an media in a physical format in ages. Not a CD or DVD to speak of and even my dead-tree book purchases have plummeted.
Just what has replaced all of these hard-good purchases? My NetFlix subscription, Pandora, Boxee, Stanza, ITunes and all the rest. When it gets right down to it about the only things I really buy-to-own these days are food and alcohol and I don’t really “own” those for long.
Of course, the idea of a subscription-based life works for goods that have little-to-no scarcity factor it seems less likely that rental will replace all aspects of ownership.
While it certainly helps that the very successful webseries “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog” featured a name cast and was created by the much loved (especially by the net-saavy) Joss Whedon, there is a lot for all of us to learn about how to monetize web video.
The secret for Dr. Horrible lies in the use of release windows much like the movie studios have employed for decades.
First, the episodes were available for free streaming online, but only for a limited time.
Next, you were able to pay to download the episodes at iTunes for a small fee. The fee was fair because now you had a version that could travel with you.
Now, Joss and company are releasing a jam-packed DVD with all sorts of value-added extras for even more money.
I’m sure there is a TV license window yet to be exploited as well.
Oh, there’s a soundtrack available, too.
Not only was Whedon able to get enormous amounts of free press and fan favor from the free release but he has understood how to build on that base to actually come out with some cash in his pocket.
While every webseries is not going to be able to do exactly what Whedon has done, it is very important to understand all of the distribution channels that exist and examine how each can best be exploited for your project.
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May 8, 2009 8:35 am | 
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