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Membership
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Who
are pirates
Pirates are people,
organisations and anyone who make unauthorised copying or use of
copyright materials without the permission of the owner. Movie pirates
are
thieves, plain and simple. It is no different from stealing another
person's shoes, stereo or jewellery except sometimes it can be a
lot more damaging when you realise where some of these tax free money
is used.
How is Piracy Committed
Piracy is committed in many ways, including Internet piracy, copying
and distribution of optical discs (DVD, CD, VCD), broadcasts, and
even public performances. Downloading movies without the authorisation
of copyright holders is a growing international phenomenon, and
it has serious consequences.
Theft of an actual film from a theatre (known as cinema copy),
for the purpose of making illegal copies is one of the most serious
forms of piracy. This type of theft allows the pirate to make a
relatively poor quality video from the theatre, which then serves
as the master for the duplication of unauthorized material.
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How
Does it affect the Industry
Piracy is a very
real threat to the future of creative industries. That's why it's
so important that consumers understand buying a pirated
DVD is far from the victimless crime it's often perceived to be.
By purchasing pirated DVDs, many consumers are unwittingly helping
to fund hard-core criminals with links to people trafficking, drugs,
guns and money laundering. The potential high returns and relatively
low risks mean that organised crime groups have got into DVD piracy.
Although the DVDs often sell at a significant value less than the originals,
they are frequently a waste of money. Some of the discs do not play
at all, some skip with bad sound quality and the subtitles, which can't
be turned off on some discs, do not correspond with the scripts. Most
importantly these criminals do not pay any form of tax, which is a
significant loss to the Government. The sale of these items constitutes
intellectual property theft, and, on top of defrauding consumers and
causing obvious losses to industry, the real beneficiaries are often
serious and organised crime groups.
According to a 2003 Interpol report on ‘The Links Between Intellectual
Property Crime and Terrorist Financing’, “trafficking in
counterfeit goods is a relatively easy criminal activity. A terrorist
could make profit solely from the sale of counterfeit or pirated goods
and does not need to be involved in the actual production or fabrication.
Thus, there are relatively low entry costs and the illicit profit margins
are high. |
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