The Big Gamble

With the announcement of WarnerMedia’s full slate of movies in 2021 which will release in HBO Max & Disney+ adding more than 50 new series and original films to its streaming platform for the next few years, media pirates are getting ready to pounce on all the contents. Since the dawn of media piracy, media pirates have gotten the web version till the movies used to get released on DVD & Blu-Ray but not anymore. Since movies will now get released on streaming platforms media pirates can get hold of HD version contents from ‘Zero Day’ meaning as soon as the contents get released. We all know the problem and also the question on how to stop or counter this act of piracy. Let’s delve a little deeper into the problem before we go to the solution.

The Problem

According to Dataprot “Pirated video material gets over 230 billion views a year, More than 80% of global online piracy can be attributed to illegal streaming services., Digital video piracy is costing the US economy between $29.2 and $71 billion each year, 126.7 billion viewings worth of US-produced TV episodes are pirated every year, Annual global revenue losses from digital piracy are between $40 and $97.1 billion in the movie industry.” These numbers are all expected to go up within the next few years due to the decision of the streaming services of airing movies in their channels from day one. 

The Solution

The best solution might sound something like a cliche but educating the audience on the importance of stopping media piracy is the best way as the audience holds the key. It’s the decision making of the audience that will make it stop for piracy to spread but how to do it? How would you convince the audience to not watch their favorite movies or TV series for free as there are more streaming services now, and to subscribe to most of them altogether will take a pretty penny. The answer is also simple. The more media piracy there is, the more chances there are for the audience’s favorite movie franchise or TV show to get cancelled. 

Let’s take an example, David Fincher the directing mind behind movies such Seven, Zodiac, The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Gone Girl and recently Mank has 3 nominations for best picture at The Academy Awards with his name. His movies have garnered more than 40 nominations at the Oscars. Besides movies he also has worked on ground breaking TV series such as House Of Cards, Love, Death & Robots, Mindhunter. All of the series he has worked for have received worldwide affection from critics and fans both. Mindhunter which ran for 2017-2019 on Netflix has an 8.6 in IMDB. In Rotten Tomatoes Mindhunter holds 97% in the average tomatometer and a 95% audience score. With such Universal acclaim we might ponder how the show got cancelled with the tag of ‘Less Viewership’ as said from an article of Insider.Com. One of the main reasons of course is digital media piracy. 

It is a safe bet to say a David Fincher production brings global recognition to the content which also means more piracy. It is to this double edged sword that is digital media piracy that we should make the audience more aware of. The double edged sword means that while the audience will get to see their favorite movie or TV series for free it will lose revenue. If the movie is a franchise it will not make any sequels, and if it’s a TV series such as Mindhunter it will get cancelled without a proper ending. 

The Experts

The second best way to counter Digital Media Piracy is to enlist the help of Online Piracy agencies such as Onsist. Onsist has been battling online piracy for the last decade. ”Stop Losing Your Revenue to Piracy“ has always been the motto of Onsist, using advanced automated tools to report and takedown illegal online videos such as popular movies or tv series, helping streamers to go back to the source of the contents. The vision of Onsist has always been to protect brands from all over the world against online theft and piracy. Onsist wants people not to fear about losing their content to pirates, counterfeiters and other digital threats. Streaming platforms such as Zeus Entertainment and BroadwayHD have already found success fighting online piracy by enlisting the help of Onsist. 

All in all, the fight against Digital Media Piracy will only be getting bigger as we enter The Platinum Age of Digital Piracy. Our counter should also be swift against it. Educating the audience on the dangers of piracy as well as enlisting the help of online anti-pirating agencies such as Onsist. It won’t stop the storm but it will surely be the first step to slow it down.