Hamed 1 Khalid Hamed English Composition I Argumentative Essay January 13, 2019 Pirating a movie may seem to be an easy and convenient way to watch that new, blockbuster that just came out. It is cheaper to get a copy from one of your family members, or the bootlegger selling copies on the corner of your local block. However, there are many hidden factors people may not think about when it comes to pirating a movie. Illegally downloading a movie does more than just hurt the rich movie studios; however, some say it also helps provide access to pop culture to a wider audience. It negatively impacts the economy, jobs, and lost taxes, which affects all of us. Clearly, pirating movies hurts the movie industry. For instance, the movie “The Expendables” was leaked three weeks before its intended release, resulting in an estimated loss of 100 million dollars (Trainer). Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who both starred in the movie, are multi-millionaires and should be able to easily weather the loss; however, many of the other employees will suffer as a result of pirating. The movie industry directly creates almost one million jobs (Yar) and indirectly helps support two million jobs and 43 billion dollars in local movie businesses across the country (Trainer). For example, the electricians, film crew, and other tradesmen will be downsized as a result of pirating movies. On top of that, many unknown actors struggling to make it in Hollywood will also find less work if studios do not make enough money to take risks on them. Lastly, we might find ourselves stuck with only watching guaranteed money-making movies, like yet another superhero movie, because studios will have limited resources to be artistic if profit is an uncertainty. This will be a lost for all of us. In 2006 it is estimated that 200,000 jobs were lost due to piracy (Yar) In 2016 Hamed 2 pirating costs the movie industry about 1.3 billion dollars in lost revenue in the United States alone. Think of all the jobs that could have been created with that (Strauss). Illegally copying movies also damages the economy. Pirating is not limited by borders. Over eighty percent of piracy comes from other countries. China leads the pack, with ninety percent of the potential market being lost to illegal pirating. A global analysis conducted Movie Picture Association estimates that 6.1 billion dollars is lost every year. This has a substantial impact on the American economy. This can be seen most clearly in the cost of movie tickets. Movie tickets prices have gone up by almost four percent despite the fact that movie attendants only rose by two and a half percent (Strauss). This does not reflect the law of supply and demand. The lost of this kind of revenue has had a dramatic effect on our economy. The people on the lower end of the economy will struggle with the high price of a movie ticket. For those who do not make a decent income, ten dollars can be a hefty price to go see a movie, furthermore, that will make it difficult for theater owners to keep the attendance up (Yar). Piracy hurts citizens due to lost tax revenue. The film and television industry creates $139 billion in annual tax wages and over two million jobs for people in every state. Anytime a movie starts production it brings with it millions of dollars to the local area and maybe billions of dollars in overall revenue. The movie, The Black Panther, generated more than twenty million dollars in wages, Star Wars universe, took in a lump sum of $1,635,137,900 when it aired (Trainer). It is not really clear what the exact economic impacts are when dealing with lost movie studio revenues, and taxes due to piracy. However, when you consider the average citizen in the U.S. who pays about fifteen percent in tax revenue, the revenue must be substantial. In an era of constant government shut downs, and economic strain on the middle class, it is safe to Hamed 3 conclude that every bit of saved money can help ease tension and it is even better if those taxes come from non-essential products. Although the loss of taxes is a real issue, the opponents of the illegalization of pirating intellectual property state harm is much less substantial (and may even be helpful). The primary argument is that just because someone paid the cheaper price for the illegally created copy does not mean that they would have actually bought a ticket to the movie instead. Individuals may be willing to pay ten dollars to purchase a bootleg copy out of someone’s trunk but those same individuals would have not gone out to movies to watch that movie if they did not have the easy access to the low cost pirate copies. This would indicate that the billions of dollars lost to illegal downloading are grossly exaggerated (Yar). In fact there is some evidence that supports pirating may actually help the movie industry. Game of Thrones director, David Petrarca, believes piracy actually helped by generating cultural buzz. The HBO series has smashed many other records, including being the top selling boxed DVD set and an increase in HBO paying subscribers. Jeff Bewkes the CEO of Time Warner (which owns HBO) said that this being the most pirated show is better for business than winning an Emmy (Dewey). Some may even argue that piracy is a bit of a Robin Hood story in which the pirates provide those in strained socioeconomic situations access to entertainment and expanded opportunities for culture. Although it would be impossible to accurately measure, perhaps providing low cost alternatives to those who struggle to find it financially feasible to attend the movies may help them feel connected to the society in which they live. Consider this. To many going to the movies may seem like a run of the mill family outing; however, there are many families that can barely make ends meet and would never be able to be part of the conversation about the most recent blockbusters. This may seem trivial, but with our country facing such Hamed 4 polarization any media by which we can help bridge the social and economic divides can help reduce the isolation many living below the poverty line already face. The lost taxes seem trivial when you look at it through this lenses. We can then multiply that along the global scale and recognize that pirated movies may become the art form that helps unite the world. Clearly there is substantial grey area when it comes to movie piracy. There is without doubt a loss in revenue and taxes caused by pirating movies however the true amount is difficult to identify. Ideally, more movie studios can take a cue from Netflix and provide legitimate, lowcost, options to view movies. The plethora of new and original programs they offer is a great indicator of how successful this model has proven to be. They have defied the expectations in an era of increased piracy they have continues to turn out movies and series, thus providing numerous jobs across the nation. It must mean something when Netflix becomes part of the vocabulary for an entire generation. Hamed 5 Works Cited Dewey, Caitlin. “Game of Thrones’ exec says piracy is ‘better than an Emmy’. He has a point.” The Switch, The Washington Post, 9, August, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/08/09/game-of-thrones-execsays-piracy-is-better-than-an-emmy-he-has-apoint/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.da86a4ba3099 Strauss, Karsten. “TV and Film Piracy: Threatening an Industry?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 Mar. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/03/06/tv-and-film-piracythreatening-an-industry/#5fb30aef63e8. Trainer, Mark. “Pirates in Movies Are Fun, but Movie Piracy Hurts.” ShareAmerica, 17 Aug. 2017, share.america.gov/pirates-movies-fun-movie-piracy-hurts/ Yar, Majid. “The Global ‘Epidemic’ of Movie ‘Piracy’: Crime-Wave or Social Construction?” Media, Culture & Society, vol. 27, no. 5, Sept. 2005, pp. 677–696, doi:10.1177/0163443705055723.
