Why I Will Never Buy a Pirated DVD...and Why I Hope Piracy Never Goes Away

I know that even if I had never been born, Spider-Mans 1 and 2 would still have been the massive, record-breaking box office smashes that they were. So would the LOTR trilogy and just about every blockbuster one could think of. I know, therefore, that mathematically, it would not make a difference to the directors, producers, writer, stars and crew of these films if I were to go out and buy pirated DVDs of their product.

But that's not why I won't buy pirated DVDs.

You see, as a film buff, one thing I like almost as much as a good film is the thought that I am rewarding, with however paltry a sum, the filmmakers who have presented me with such fine entertainment. I like that I am letting them know, with my hard-earned pesos, how much I believe in their product, how much I the experience of watching their movies has meant to me. I feel that I am letting them know that I appreciate the time, money, sweat and love they invested in these works of art. The money I spend on a movie ticket, or even on a DVD is kind of like my love letter to these filmmakers, whether or not they care to receive it.

The truth of the matter is that buying pirated DVDs is the diametric opposite of appreciating them. To me, it's like saying "I like your movie, but not enough to pay to see it. I'd rather just give my money to some unscrupulous Taiwanese or Malaysian asshole who did nothing more than click his mouse a few times to get your movie and burn it." Just imagine if EVERYONE thought like that. What if EVERYONE was like that little shit who tried to sneak a digital camera into Spider-Man 2 during one of its initial American screenings? What if EVERYONE figured that "they'll make money anyway from all the people who pay to see their movie in the US?" It doesn't take much of a genius to guess what'll happen next.

2005 saw a downswing in movie ticket sales, at least in the US. The last three years have seen downtrends in movie attendance. In short, movies are becoming riskier to produce, and while it's a distinct possibility that people simply want better films than the stuff Hollywood is currently putting out, it cannot help that people prefer to watch stuff on their home entertainment systems than trek to a local multiplex. Imagine if all that people watched were pirated DVDs.

That said, I hope piracy sticks around.

My wife hypothesized that the reason why movie companies and their distributors price real DVDs so prohibitively is their adherence to the "diamond theory." That is, if you put a high price on a product, you create the impression of "exclusivity" of your product, and theoretically a desire for it. There could be something to that, but there's no denying that the primary motivator is greed.

Why should I pay $15 for a product that only costs about $1 to make? So Tom Cruise can make his back-end profits and buy Katie Holmes her very own delivery room? The hell with that. As long as these dipshits in the industry don't feel the burn of lost profits to sales of pirated DVDs, they will price their products however the hell they want. And no one will be able to do anything about it. It's like they'll be able to hold our home entertainment hostage for exorbitant prices.

Piracy is the equalizer.

In the last several months, video piracy has helped drive DVD prices down. Significantly. I remember how, when it first came out sometime last year, the US-made Lord of the Rings: Return of the King DVD was priced at P1,300. When the distributors had a hard time selling it at that price, they knocked it down to P899, where it remains still. This notwithstanding, several copies are still gathering dust on shelves. Why? Because people aren't really interested in paying 900 for something they already have on bootleg DVDs.

So recently, the distributor of the LOTR movies, C-Interactive, released a boxed set of all three movies for P1200, including the aforementioned US made DVD. That's an average of P400 a movie, all of which are two-disc deals with all the trimmings. This is opposed to the P1300 that the pricks originally had the temerity to charge us. Chalk one up for the consumer!

In short, while personally, I'm really not interested in giving pirates any business because I'd really much rather let my favorite filmmakers how much I liked their work, I'm glad that their are people around to keep these people in check, lest they shaft me and my fellow consumers with impunity.