DVD Copying Is On The Rise
Posted 07/13/08 at 12:36:40 AM by Justin Kerr
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Making copies of protected DVD media is complicated process conducted over dark fiber and only by the hacker elite, or is it? A new survey conducted by Futuresource Consulting shows that in reality, more than one in three US & UK residents have owned up to making copies of content they didn’t own. These numbers are up sharply from the one in four self proclaimed pirates surveyed during the previous year. The results tell the true story of what keeps Hollywood executives up at night. Is the movie industry doomed to suffer the same collapse facing music labels?
Readers of Maximum PC know all the tricks of the trade when it comes to getting the most out of their media libraries. But the reality is even the average home user is now capable of easily copying protected media and is doing so at alarming rates. Inexpensive or often free utilities make this once painfully difficult task little more then a few simple clicks. Hollywood blockbusters are the most popular target in the US, with rent and rip being the most common form of piracy. The UK on the other hand has shown a preferred taste for TV show duplication with around 61% anonymously owning up to the deed. The most shocking statistic however is that of lost sales. On average seven of ten consumers surveyed admitted they would have considered buying some, if not all of the content illegally copied had they not been able to easily copy.
The survey makes one fact painfully clear, video piracy is definitely on the rise. Another trend to take note of here is the stunning similarity between the survey results and what was observed during the early days of the music industry’s decline. Piracy of music reached critical mass with the birth of the mp3. As the container format gained steam and consumers found it an efficient way to store and distribute digital copies of their music, sales began their downward march. Are movies far behind? With DVD duplication already on the rise, and container formats such as MPEG-4 making video storage more efficient, the film and TV industry is showing very similar warning signals. Once again consumers are showing that they have no problem defusing DRM, and they will ultimately decide how to consume media.
Still Fair Use If Lost?
Submitted by marudd2002 on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 9:12am
I have a very legitimate concern with this question as I try to not go foul of the law.
What am I to do with my backup (digital or optical) copy of a DVD I own if the original is broken, stolen, lost, etc? Since I no longer have the original disc and/or packaging, is it my legal duty to discard the backup for fear of the law or is it safe/okay to keep the copy even though I no longer have proof that I did/do legally own it and the backup truly is just a personal backup and nothing else?
I do realize that even though I personally believe in fair use rights, that the DMCA considers backing up my own collection to be illegal. I wish that legislature would change this as I feel we should be allowed to protect our investments without being seen as criminals
----
Fanboys are annoying. Price/Performance is top priority. Patience=Awesome.
Submitted by dcrail on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 7:50am
Don't know why that article isn't available... But the PDF archive of the issue is still available
http://dl.maximumpc.com/Archives/MPC0507.pdf
It's a little dated, but still has good information. There was mention in the podcast several weeks ago about a new article along the same lines, featuring Handbrake, but haven't heard much about it since. I wonder if the corporate lawyers haven't squashed new features that show us how to make perfectly legal backups of purchased DVDs.
Submitted by DoctorX on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 7:49am
I have kids... I make copies of the 100 or so dvd's i have bought and put them on a server. I then have a mvix to play them on the tv. It is my right to be able to do this with anything I buy... I dont rent these... I have purchased them. The MPAA can take a long walk off a short pier.
Submitted by DePat on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 5:39am
After reading this article, I wanted to read the related article titled Copy & Convert All Your Movies and Music
To my surprise, I got a message saying that I was not authorized to read the article. What gives? I am a maximumpc subscriber for many years and an avid reader of your website. Why I am not authorized to read this article? This is kind of funny in a sense because if you do recall you have a similar article in one of your 2007 magazine.
Nevertheless, it is disturbing to me that you guys may have censorship on your site.
I have the capability to
Submitted by Dogness on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 4:29pm
I have the capability to copy DVDs, but I don't. They are cheap enough that I don't mind buying them and I also understand the importance of financially supporting the companies that make the products that I enjoy.
What's up with the terrible writing lately??
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 12:44pm
Ever since the new website was launched there has been some atrocious grammar in the posts. I frequently see "all so" instead of "also." In this article "DVD copying is DEFIANTlY on the rise" instead of "definitely." And apparently consumers are now "diffusing DRM" instead of "defusing" it.
Are you guys professional journalists or what!?!
Get an editor or proof reader, or a basic command of the English language.
Who cares, you know what they mean
Submitted by joseph4.0 on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 6:38pm
"Get an editor or proof reader, or a basic command of the English language."
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Blogs are a little different
Submitted by willsmith on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 4:46pm
Blogs are a little different than the printed mag. While we definitely (note the proper spelling) strive for perfection, timeliness is much more important on the web than it is in print. Since we can fix errors after the story is posted, we operate on a "Get the story up, then fix grammar errors later" theory.
Naturally, that doesn't fly on the print side, since we can't edit the mag once it's printed.
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 9:47am
I wasn't sure you guys were notcing the typos or not. I love MPC and I don't want it to come off as a hobbyist or 2nd rate blog site.
Thanks for at least acknowledging my comment.
As for the other "geeks" out there, I'm a geek and I think it's important to use good spelling and grammar when you're putting your thoughts in print, especially when you are part of a professional organization.
Submitted by jakthebomb on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 6:24am
Think About it, The Movie Industry Makes back most if not all of the money
from Theaters ticket sales. The movie studios have started a new feature
for DVDs that they call "Digital Copy". Digital Copy is a MP4
version on the Disc; you can copy it to your iPod with no problems. It
does save allot of time encoding.As for the transition from VHS to DVD I can understand the price difference,
because DVDs had far superior Quality. But the transition from DVD to
Blu-ray isn't going to satisfy the price. One it is too expensive. Two,
Sony is stupid because if I don't have an HDTV why would I buy Blu-ray? The
elderly have DVD players, because it isn’t HD. They aren’t going to buy a
$1,000+ HDTV and a $500 Blu-Ray Player, with their only income from social
security. So if the blu-ray sales aren't going well, it’s not because no
one likes it. It is because not everyone
has a HDTV.As for the Rental DVD coping, I do it. Why? Because I am already
paying something for it. People do it all of the time. I get some
Pre Release DVDs from my uncle, and copy them as well. The whole thing is
why I should have to pay $40 a movie if I am going to watch it once or twice.
double-edged sword
Submitted by borisdblade on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 4:48am
Its a double edged sword between consumers and companies. Yes, everyone who follows this stuff knows it. We consumers want free reign of the content we purchase and companies want to keep us from having our way with what we buy. But I think it's wrong to keep consumers buying the same product over and over again. I've bought 3 copies of the same movie. It was Saving Private Ryan. I bought it on VHS when it first came out, then again on DVD, lost the DVD in moving to a new house, bought it again. So I've paid almost $100 for the same content.
It honestly should be a crime to make a consumer spend more money for the same thing over and over. It's not good business. Now if and when I decide to buy into Blu-ray (please let that new red-laser deal pick up), I'll have to buy my whole collection again to watch it in 1080P? That's over 500 movies! And at $40 average a pop for Blu-ray, that's close to $20K! And I'd be buying the same movies again! Any new ones that come out would have to be added in. Not to mention that by the time all of the movies were bought again in blu-ray, another format would be out again, say about 5-6 years, now I have to buy them AGAIN! HELL NO!
Hope that makes a point about what kind of perpetual cycle the movie industry has. Movie CEOs with philangies stuck up their noses, listen up: I am a person of the digital consumer age have one demand, free access to the content I purchase from you to do with as I please, whether it is rip it to my hard drive and convert to Divx, convert to mp4, rip the audio from the movie and create my own personal sound clips. I bought the movie, I didn't rent it, lease it or license it. I purchased, bought, and consumed it. IT'S MINE!
Here's another analogy: You lease a car for $300 a month from a dealer. As long as you pay your monthly payment, no one cares what you do with the car. Even if you don't pay, they don't care what you do with your car. And if you bought the car straight out, they don't ever as what you are doing with your car. You could let 200 family members drive your car, it doesn't matter to them, you paid for it, it's yours. They can't say "Your violating our purchase agreement by letting other people drive YOUR car without OUR permission."
Yes, piracy is a dirty word in the vocabulary of today's media. But it's just a word, not a person. It's a label, labels are good for food and identifying unknown things, not people.
Thanks for the rant and I rip my movies for my own use.
Submitted by Kargg on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 4:13am
There is one BIG reason that people copy content that a lot of people ignore:
A lot of the DVD's are WAY overpriced! Some of these movies are selling for $40-$50, when it costs them only a few bucks to make the copies and sell them. The movie industry is making a killing on selling the stuff.
What they should do to curtail the illegal copying is to reduce their prices drastically. That would make it less worthwhile to copy them. You don't see a lot of the bargain-bin stuff being copied, now, do you? (Sure, there will be people who copy them just for the sake of copying them, but the majority of people do it because they can't afford to actually BUY some of these titles.)
Pricing their stuff less than they are now will still reap profits, but will also have the added benefit of curtailing copying.
Some season box sets are selling upwards of $100 or more, which is completely ridiculous and giving them a 5000% profit.
Submitted by lemetz2 on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 1:02am
The movie studios need to get a clue. Most people copy rented movies because the studios place all of this DRM crap on the movies people buy legally. People see the massive profits studios get from the movies and restrict what people can do with their legally purchased movies and get mad, really mad (when consumer buys the content, it belongs to the consumer to use anyway they want so long as it is for their private use). So consumers copy movies they rent because it is cheaper and see it as a way to "get back at studios" (I don't agree with this but it is the way a lot of people think. Consumers should be allowed to copy the content they legally buy in stores but not the rented content.). The RIAA is not helping the studios' plight. When people see the RIAA suing consumers and winning six figure awards against the average computer user (even consumers who don't know much about computers), people care even less about what the studios feel is wrong. People see a big company using copyright law to beat up "the little guy".
The studios should sell DRM free content in stores and save the DRM for the rented content. Bottom line; home networks are becoming commom. Home servers are the logical place for people to place their music and movies and have their home entertainment PCs access, display and play it (this provides the ability to easily access and enjoy the wonderful content they legally buy they way they want to and when). This is a train that can't be stopped. The music industry already knows this and has backed off some on this type of copying, but they need to do a little better. The movie studios are being dragged kicking and screaming into this new paradigm. They can continue to resist and suffer the same fate as the music industry, or they can adapt and make new profits. They need to invent a new market strategy. One that allows consumers an easily to copy, store and replay the content they legally buy.
GRRRRRR!!!
Submitted by vistageek on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 12:54am
People have got to stop doing this. Everyone has to do their part!!!
Submitted by Vegan on Sat, 07/12/2008 - 11:41pm
It's true, pretty much every computer where I work has Handbrake on it.
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