Movie Studios Seeking Usage Right Restrictions?

[KipCoon]

1. Buy DVD
2. Handbrake
3. ??????
4. PROFIT!

Brilliant!!!!

Couldn't have thought of a better 4 step plan myself.

But seriously, theres no reason to do it. Its not like the movie stealing industry is promoted with the iPod video, and the fact people are willing to BUY THE VIDEO from iTunes in the first place shows good intentions. If I wanted to stealit, I'd rent the DVD, crack it, and stick it on my iPod, instead of buying off iTunes for a video specific apple device.

They make no sense.

 

[Eidorian]

If you are commenting on what you do, then its people like you that make the studios demand limits on legitimate customers like me.

Imagine buying a car but the manufacturer keeping the wheels when you are not using it. Its stops car theft, but its a pain in the ass for the user.

Stop pirating!

Sadly it's not listed as fair use. I don't like having to carry around EVERY disc when I can compress my movies to my hard drive.

Pirate my own movies for use only on my own equipment? It's more likely then you think!

 

[spicyapple]

I recently pirated a movie because I couldn't find it at the local rental place. I can't wait for online movie sales.

The staggered global release of movies is just asinine in the digital age. I'll agree that the movie studios almost force legitimate consumers to pirate movies because there is no other way to legally obtain the content.

luv ya bunches! x0x0x0x

 

[donlphi]

For Disney there is iTunes, for all others there is Netflix & Handbrake

A person can buy a movie from iTunes and play it on as many iPODS they want (how many does a single household actually have?) or a person can just get netflix, request the movie, rip it, put it on his OR her iPOD, and watch it as many times as he or she wants.

I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, but I know people that would think about it...

 

[mrgreen4242]

Apple/we should just ask for DVD-Video burning rights in exchange for limiting the number of iPods you can play a movie on. Be a fair trade, in my book. I'd use the iTMS store for movies if they did that. The ability to burn to regular CDs is what keeps me in the iTMS (I have some sort of legal, unrestricted backup right), and I don't think I am alone in this way of thought.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Sadly it's not listed as fair use. I don't like having to carry around EVERY disc when I can compress my movies to my hard drive.

Pirate my own movies for use only on my own equipment? It's more likely then you think!

I agree on the copying for own use. You should not be limited on something you have purchased. But you put 'profit' at the end of your 'list' that to me means you also sell the copies. That is what I and the movie studios do not agree with. Hence all this red tape crap with music and movie downloads.

 

[weitzner]

The best way to avoid the experience of the music industry is to respond to a changing market and give people what they want before they get mad enough to expend the effort to just take it and feel justified.

I couldn't agree with you more. The current model that the MPAA and the RIAA are trying to preserve is simply irrelevent with the advent of digital media as a realistic and easily obtainable alternative. They had a chance to embrace it and make serious changes to the way they do things (i.e. find some way to deliver content at essentially no cost to the consumer but still turn a profit through ads and other sponsorship, which would work because the cost of producing the content is decreasing really quickly) but they chose to fight it and they can't win. The iTS is a compromise between the two, but I'll stick to free media and pay to go to concerts for bands I like and see some movies in the theatres.

 

[Clive At Five]

So many good points have already been brought up. Just a couple more thoughts to add:

First: Part of the rising cost of movies is because the industry chooses to use "superstar" actors. There are so many other actors out there that are equally as good, if not better than the big names... except the industry is too stubborn to try this *slightly* riskier approach. They would very likely save money in the long-run.

Second: The DVD is a versative piece of equipment. It can be played on a huge number of devices... your DVD player, your friends' DVD players, your computer's DVD drive, etc. The only thing you can't do legally with a DVD is rip it to your computer or make copies in any other way. Why, then, should we be robbed by being limited to 5 iTunes-equipped and owner-varified COMPUTERS (although iTV/TelePort will likely change this)? PLUS, the movie is of lesser quality. The industries might be afraid of piracy, yes, but they should be less afraid of iTunes content than physical DVDs. It's very likely that anyone who is computer savvy enough to run an iTunes movie through a DRM cracker would also be savvy enough to simply rip the DVDs they own... and perhaps the most savviest of users will forego buying all together and order/rip from NetFlix. So there are more prominent enemies for the studios to lash out against besides Apple.

In the industy's defense, since it is their copyrighted content, they technically get to set the rules. They're just being unreasonable about where they're deciding to be strict about it. This whole issue is a perfect example of "The harder you squeeze wet sand, the more slips through your fingers."

-Clive

 

[Eidorian]

I agree on the copying for own use. You should not be limited on something you have purchased. But you put 'profit' at the end of your 'list' that to me means you also sell the copies. That is what I and the movie studios do not agree with. Hence all this red tape crap with music and movie downloads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomes_(South_Park_episode)

The Underpants Gnomes have a three-phase business plan, consisting of:

1. Collect underpants
2. ?
3. Profit!

None of the gnomes actually know what the second phase is, and all of them assume that someone else within the organization does. This mocks the lack of solid business plans within many Dot-com bubble companies founded during the period before this episode aired. The three-step business plan has become a recurring joke on websites like Slashdot, Fark, and 4chan, with various things substituted for the first step.

 

[easy4lif]

hey movie studios, if you made more great movies on the Calibre of spiderman, Cars, or Pirates of the carribean people would be willing not to steal in the first place. case in point, Cars DVD sold 6 million in one week. Crap like Battlefield Earth witch cost 100 million to make but only made 20 million in box office sales sucked on several levels


you want to make money off your movies




MAKE GOOD MOVIES! ! !

 

[Small White Car]

I agree on the copying for own use. You should not be limited on something you have purchased. But you put 'profit' at the end of your 'list' that to me means you also sell the copies.

If he had just put "profit" that would be a fair judgemnt.

But that's not exactly what he said. The actual quote is:
"3) ????? 4) PROFIT!"

That's different. It's an old joke. I guess you've never seen it before.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

If he had just put "profit" that would be a fair judgemnt.

But that's not exactly what he said. The actual quote is:
"3) ????? 4) PROFIT!"

That's different. It's an old joke. I guess you've never seen it before.

Yes I have seen it and now it has been pointed out it is quite funny

 

[Eidorian]

Yes I have seen it and now it has been pointed out it is quite funny

I'm glad we can agree on that humor.

 

[danielwsmithee]

Yeah, I don't care one way or the other. At my parents' house, five iPods are fed from a single computer. But only one of these is even capable of playing video. And how often are people watching full-length movies on iPods? Other than maybe traveling, they'll watch on the iTV or on the computer itself.

On the other hand, it would add an unnecessary complication to things.

Could this be more of an issue with the impending introduction of iTV. I could just see a college dorm where one guys iTunes movies could be played simultaneously on hundreds of iTVs Maybe a long shot.

 

[BoyBach]

In the industy's defense, since it is their copyrighted content, they technically get to set the rules.

That's the problem. The industry thinks that they can set the rules, when in fact it's the law makers and the judges that decide and implement them. I just wish the they (the politicians/judges, etc) would show a bit more understanding and concern for the consumer. After all, we're the ones who need protecting.

 

[TomSmithMacEd]

If you are commenting on what you do, then its people like you that make the studios demand limits on legitimate customers like me.

Imagine buying a car but the manufacturer keeping the wheels when you are not using it. Its stops car theft, but its a pain in the ass for the user.

Stop pirating!

Umm... that isn't pirating... He bought the dvd then ripped it for his own personal use.

 

[G4scott]

My biggest issue with this is when I buy the movie, I expect to be able to watch it on whatever I want, i.e. my HDTV, PowerBook, iPod, or, even in the near future, mobile device, as long as I own the device it's being played on.

When movie industries get the idea that limiting the devices you can play the movie on makes people want to buy the movie even less, then I might consider buying movies online. Until then, I'll stick with DVDs...

 

[840quadra]

If it is downloadable or for sale in a form of media, it is subject to being pirated!

What the crap does the iPod have to do with this? Because the file is compressed down for a portable media player, it will be more subject to being stolen than not ? Fair Play doesn't let you burn DVD's with iTunes Videos, and you are locked to only playing on validated machines!


Yes Production costs for Movies are much higher than music, however selling them digitally via Apple costs them nothing! They don't have to pay for displays, shipping, manufacturing, marketing, or deal with returns.

This is as stupid as Universal Studios wanting to get a $1 for every iPod sold.

 

[karlfranz]

pressuring Apple to reduce the number of devices movie content from iTunes would be able to play on (namely, iPods).

I still don't understand what the issue is here. I can buy a DVD for almost the same amount and play it on as many devices as I want. The DVD has much better quality than the Apple downloads and has extra bonus features as well.

If I want to get a movie for viewing right away I can always "rent" it for about $4US from my digital cable provider and watch it in my home theatre. Many of them are now even in HD quality.

Oh, and part of the reason movies are now costing so much is for the exhorbitant salaries that certain actors get paid. If you want to cut costs on movie production, there's a good place to start. It's sad that we live in a society where actors, pop/rap stars, sports stars, etc. get paid mega bucks while professions like "school teacher" get paid peanuts.

 

[gkarris]

The industry is going to implode!!!

I was just over at the Universal Studios iPod tax forum ranting and raving about video amongst the people ranting and raving about audio.

Now, this news pops up about ALL the studios wanting to do something about videos....

Do I start the ranting and raving in this forum, or just wait until the whole industry implodes on itself (thank you studios and Microsoft...)?

 

[bigandy]

I still don't understand what the issue is here. I can buy a DVD for almost the same amount and play it on as many devices as I want. The DVD has much better quality than the Apple downloads and has extra bonus features as well.

Oh, and part of the reason movies are now costing so much is for the exhorbitant salaries that certain actors get paid.

agreed. maybe DVDs should explode after being inserted into five different players

also, maybe instead of paying Tom Cruise et al $25m a film (a quarter of this average 'budget'), why not get decent actors? or the studios agree more reasonable salaries. i mean, i couldn't even spend that much money. there are only so many apple products

 

[spicyapple]

It's sad that we live in a society where actors, pop/rap stars, sports stars, etc. get paid mega bucks while professions like "school teacher" get paid peanuts.

Acting is hard. You only need to witness bad acting in one movie to understand this. For every A-list star, there are tens of thousands more out of work, because competition is tough and dependent on luck, too. But mostly, it comes down to supply and demand. I have no problems with actors getting 20 million a picture, they worked hard and there are only a handful of them, anyways.

luv ya bunches, x0x0x0

 

[Digitaljim]

It's sad that we live in a society where actors, pop/rap stars, sports stars, etc. get paid mega bucks while professions like "school teacher" get paid peanuts.

I agree, it is sad. But it is simple economics i'm afraid.

There is only one Tom Cruise or Jay-Z, so the supply of the 'talents' they bring to any project is massively small against a seemingly large demand, hence a huge fee is commanded.

Mr X the Schoolteacher, however, has no such bargaining power as there's a relatively large supply of people who could do the job.

 

[Stridder44]

I'm glad we can agree on that humor.

Out of curiosity, do you visit Fark much?

Anyway, I can't understand why the high level of piracy (with movies) when Netfilx and Blockbuster Online exist (although you could just copy the movie from there).

/slashie

 

[princealfie]

Acting is hard. You only need to witness bad acting in one movie to understand this. For every A-list star, there are tens of thousands more out of work, because competition is tough and dependent on luck, too. But mostly, it comes down to supply and demand. I have no problems with actors getting 20 million a picture, they worked hard and there are only a handful of them, anyways.

luv ya bunches, x0x0x0

Wrong. Acting is easy. They are called fake players.

Hmm... what was that Paris Hellton movie? Oh... house of wax...
Britney Spears... hmm... okay... anyways