How “Free” Content Has a Cost
Everybody pirates. At least, that’s what it seems like at times. In 2010, films such as Avatar and Kick Ass saw over 16 million and 10 million illegal BitTorrent downloads, respectively (http://www.indyposted.com/144925/the-10-most-pirated-movies-of-2010/). The gaming industry saw games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 illegally downloaded over 3.5 million times each (http://gamepolitics.com/2010/12/29/most-pirated-games-2010). As for music, I think it’s likely that everyone knows the piracy rates for that one: according to the NPD Retail Tracking Group, 63% of all music obtained by consumers is pirated (http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy-online-scope-of-the-problem).
Ignoring the legality (or lack thereof) of the topic at hand, what exactly makes this troubling? After all, Avatar still made over $760 million domestically (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avatar.htm) at the box office, while Call of Duty had the biggest entertainment launch of all time at its release (http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverchiang/2010/11/11/call-of-duty-black-ops-claims-biggest-entertainment-launch-in-history/), only to be surpassed by this year’s installment (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-11-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-biggest-entertainment-launch-ever). And Lady Gaga didn’t have any trouble shifting over a million copies of her newest album in its opening week (http://www.ladygaga.com/news/default.aspx?nid=35633).
That’s the problem, though. The big releases aren’t being affected. James Cameron, the Call of Duty brand, and Lady Gaga are surefire hits in their respective industries, so even in the face of massive piracy, their products are going to rake in millions upon millions of dollars. The damage is being dealt towards smaller releases, and as a result, the film, music, and gaming industries are gravitating away from riskier ventures in favor of these guaranteed moneymakers.
While this is beneficial to no one, it certainly does its fair share of damage to both the people releasing the products and those consuming them. According to the RIAA, piracy has led to a 47% decrease in music sales since 1999 (http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy-online-scope-of-the-problem). Gaming giant Ubisoft has ceased development of some of its titles, citing a 95% piracy rate (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/24/piracy-stops-ghost-recon-future-soldier-pc/). As for the film industry, the producers of films ranging from The Hurt Locker to Far Cry have resorted to suing torrenters, who are blamed for the financial failure of those films (http://www.movieline.com/2010/05/kathryn-bigelows-oscar-afterglow-plagued-by-piracy-suits-international-outrage.php).
Of course, as consumers, we are more likely to be more concerned about how we are affected than whether or not Kathryn Bigelow will have to pawn her Oscar to make up for The Hurt Locker’s commercial failure. And for consumers, the effects of piracy are no less harmful. A limited range of offerings from the entertainment industry benefits no one, least of all the ones of us with less mainstream tastes. If piracy continues to plague the entertainment industry, the odds of risky projects like the upcoming Arrested Development resurrection and companion movie decrease, and the risky projects are often the true gems.
Ultimately, nobody wins with piracy. The short-term benefits of torrenting paid content without paying do not outweigh the long-term damage that will be dealt to parties on both sides of the issue. The cost of piracy (again disregarding the illegality of the act) is the growth and development of the entertainment industry, which hurts providers and consumers alike.
That is simply too high a price to pay for free content.