“You wouldn’t steal a car. You wouldn’t steal a handbag. You wouldn’t steal a mobile phone. You wouldn’t steal. You wouldn’t steal a DVD. Downloading pirated films is stealing. Stealing is against the law. Piracy-it’s a crime” (Australian Government). We’ve all heard that quote a million times before a movie starts, yet we still click the easily accessed download button when we’re itching to see the latest song, television show or game. Why do we do it? Because we simply can. The next question is who has the power to stop us committing such a crime?
A costly fine sent from the government is the obvious answer, but more recently it is intelligent Indian film makers who have discovered an even better tactic to steer devious downloader’s in the right direction. The two major Bollywood film companies ‘Rajshri Group’ and ‘Eros Entertainment’ have decided to leak footage of their films, not only to avoid illegal downloading but also expose Indian films to a wider overseas audience.
It is no surprise that the masterminds behind this new phenomenon will eventually gain success. This is clear as revealing any material online sooner can increase sales and popularity dramatically. For instance take the YouTube sensation Justin Bieber, who has now taken the “Teen Pop Idol” title just by uploading a few videos on a public website. Evidently without this exposure no one would know who Beiber was today.
Unfortunately before Beiber reached a high level of stardom no one regularly observed him. This is apparent as westernized film audiences are mainly entertained by only popular mainstream topics in the media. Often Indian films are similarly viewed as they are not popular yet in the westernized world. However it is highly likely that their ratings will increase due to online film releases from Indian film companies soon. So consequently perhaps instead of penalizing devious downloader’s in this day and age, it might just be time for film makers to get creative.
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