Enforcement and Control of Piracy, Copying, and Sharing in the Movie Industry

49 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2007

See all articles by David Waterman

David Waterman

Indiana University - Department of Telecommunications

Sung Wook Ji

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale- Dept. of Radio, Television, and Digital Media

Laura R. Rochet

Indiana University Maurer School of Law

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Abstract

We analyze strategies that movie distributors have used to cope with piracy, copying and sharing of movies in the United States in four categories: "hard goods" commercial piracy, consumer theft of pay TV signals, consumer copying and sharing of videos and pay TV, and mostly in prospect - Internet file sharing. In the past, distributors have mainly sought to raise costs of engaging in these activities by increasing legal jeopardy, advantaging anti-copy technology, and reducing original sources of supply. They appear to have effectively reduced or contained most piracy, copying and sharing of movies in the U.S., at least with analog media. Movie distributors are following similar strategies with digital media, including Internet file sharing. Digital media raise the stakes because of lower costs of copying or sharing and higher quality of outputs. Digital outputs are not always as high quality as source originals, however, and Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies potentially improve distributor control. The movie studios now face technological, demand, and political uncertainties in the U.S., notably in maintaining or achieving technically compatible DRM systems to control file sharing and PPV/VOD copying. Implications for foreign markets and directions for research are discussed.

Keywords: Copyright, Copying, Intellectual Property, Motion Picture, Piracy

JEL Classification: L82, O34

Suggested Citation

Waterman, David and Ji, Sung Wook and Rochet, Laura R., Enforcement and Control of Piracy, Copying, and Sharing in the Movie Industry. Review of Industrial Organization, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1029725

David Waterman (Contact Author)

Indiana University - Department of Telecommunications ( email )

1229 East 7th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States
812-855-6170 (Phone)

Sung Wook Ji

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale- Dept. of Radio, Television, and Digital Media ( email )

Carbondale, IL 62901
United States

Laura R. Rochet

Indiana University Maurer School of Law ( email )

211 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

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