Current mood:	angry
Entry tags:	fail, media industry
Crossposts:	http://rhipowered.livejournal.com/871691.html

I would like to note, idly, that 'why don't they just make things available in every country, that would stop a lot of piracy' is, unfortunately, more difficult than it sounds. Mostly due to...DING...other parts of the entertainment industry and the government(s) involved!

- Licensing is a massive hurdle (this is why certain TV shows have not yet been released on DVD despite their popularity). What's cheap to broadcast in one country may cost ridiculous amounts in another.

- On that same note, fair use law is different in different countries. You may not be able to use certain clips or sources regardless of licensing.

- What's legal to broadcast and WHEN is it legal to broadcast?

- What network gets the rights to broadcast (on an airwave level) in each country?

- Who gets the advertising space in each country? Is there more space that needs to be cut in? Does more space need to be filled in, and with what?

I could go on. I cannot imagine the amount of wrangling that goes into getting something broadcast same day, one day, or even one week later between the UK and the US. In the UK you'll pay extra to get Sky Atlantic and watch a day or week after the US on your television.

In film, things are a bit easier, and as the studio can set a premiere date whenever, there is very little excuse for a film not to be released globally within a couple of weeks of itself. Unfortunately, some studios have not figured this out yet. We're still waiting for The Muppets here in the UK, did you know?

This internal bureaucracy nightmare is what's actually harming their revenue stream, and this is partially why I have very few problems wrt television and film piracy. (The other part is that honestly, your money is not going to most of the people who worked the hardest on the film or show. They've already been paid and they're not seeing anything more of it.)

They need to change the system before they can expect to see less piracy. Full stop. Open access (paid or not) is where things are going, and anyone who's not on that train will eventually be left behind, no matter how hard they kick and scream right now.

I made a note of that in nearly every paper I did as part of my MA, not that anyone important was listening.