Does piracy hurt sales?
- Thread starter Gindil
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It does hurt sales... If you pirate some celeb or producer may not be able to purchase a new private jet, they may even have to ride first class in a normal plane 'Oh no!'
Howmuch ti hurts sales will remain a mystery, but the presumption that every download would otherwise be a buy is pure idiocy, that is the same as claiming everyone playing a demo or watching a trailer will be buying the game/movie/music.
And as it was stated many times before piracy serves as free advertisement, the crappy quality Avatar you downloaded may just convince you to watch proper stuff at the cinema, and you may want to play the game you liked online in which case you haveto buy it.
And as it was stated many times before piracy serves as free advertisement, the crappy quality Avatar you downloaded may just convince you to watch proper stuff at the cinema, and you may want to play the game you liked online in which case you haveto buy it.
Well, any kind of theft hurts sales simply because it's the loss of a sale. I would say it's circumstantial, though, especially in the case of game piracy. It seems to me that most gamers are willing to pay for the games they like. Gamers that pirate games, on the other hand, don't seem to have had enough interest in the game in the first place to justify buying it, so technically, it isn't really a lost sale.
I think the entertainment industry as a whole tends to overreact to the question of piracy. In retail, it's accepted and expected that some profits are going to be lost to theft; it's a circumstance referred to as "shrinkage", and while it's obviously something that retailers would prefer did not happen, they accept that they could never stop it entirely, and therefore ensure that it's properly budgeted for. The entertainment industry needs to adopt a similar stance, especially given how much more difficult piracy is to combat.
I think the entertainment industry as a whole tends to overreact to the question of piracy. In retail, it's accepted and expected that some profits are going to be lost to theft; it's a circumstance referred to as "shrinkage", and while it's obviously something that retailers would prefer did not happen, they accept that they could never stop it entirely, and therefore ensure that it's properly budgeted for. The entertainment industry needs to adopt a similar stance, especially given how much more difficult piracy is to combat.
I've personally purchased several cds and downloads from bands that I never would have heard of if their copyright had not been infringed.
Someone pirates a thing. They don't pay for something, but get it. If they wouldn't have pirated it, there would be a chance they would've bought it, therefore: It hurts sales, although: pirating something doesn't mean the person had even thought of ever buying it.
There's also the odd case of someone pirating a product and decides to buy it. So they wouldn't have bought it, if they wouldn't have pirated it first. But this is, in scale, such a rare scenario it doesn't affect but a little. Worth of a mention still.
Piracy hurts sales, but not in the sense: pirated product = loss of sales for the price of the product
There's also the odd case of someone pirating a product and decides to buy it. So they wouldn't have bought it, if they wouldn't have pirated it first. But this is, in scale, such a rare scenario it doesn't affect but a little. Worth of a mention still.
Piracy hurts sales, but not in the sense: pirated product = loss of sales for the price of the product
Piracy is an interesting topic. There's no telling with every digital copy of something if it's genuine I'm taking this because I can, or if there's some other reason behind it.
Does every pirated copy translate into a lost sale? No, of course not. Sometimes people pirate things because it's the only way to get it, at least in the short term.
Sometimes being stranded in a foreign country that's pretty much a prison with little entertainment other than the internet will do odd things to people. Sometimes if they're stuck in a place where the primary method to get a movie is to pirate it, they'll pirate it, watch it a few times, then delete it. Other times they'll keep it, swap around a few movies, come back to civilization, and then buy actual copies. Sometimes they pirate stuff because it's more convenient or faster than doing it legally(Yes, it sounds weird, but a CD-Rom can only be encoded into a music format at specific speeds, which are now slower than the internet).
Sometimes they'll pirate stuff simply because it can't be gotten at reasonable prices from a retailer, because the producers went out of business, or stopped producing a product line(Yes AEG, I'm talking about 7th Sea).
Sometimes piracy can generate sales. If a company did it right, they could use piracy to their advantage, as a tool, instead of just throwing a tantrum at trying to fight it tooth and nail.
Does every pirated copy translate into a lost sale? No, of course not. Sometimes people pirate things because it's the only way to get it, at least in the short term.
Sometimes being stranded in a foreign country that's pretty much a prison with little entertainment other than the internet will do odd things to people. Sometimes if they're stuck in a place where the primary method to get a movie is to pirate it, they'll pirate it, watch it a few times, then delete it. Other times they'll keep it, swap around a few movies, come back to civilization, and then buy actual copies. Sometimes they pirate stuff because it's more convenient or faster than doing it legally(Yes, it sounds weird, but a CD-Rom can only be encoded into a music format at specific speeds, which are now slower than the internet).
Sometimes they'll pirate stuff simply because it can't be gotten at reasonable prices from a retailer, because the producers went out of business, or stopped producing a product line(Yes AEG, I'm talking about 7th Sea).
Sometimes piracy can generate sales. If a company did it right, they could use piracy to their advantage, as a tool, instead of just throwing a tantrum at trying to fight it tooth and nail.
Avatar is a bad example, due to it being largely shown in 3D.
I think that there are two main reasons for this 3d bandwagon: higher ticket prices, and it discourages piracy. Who's going to record a movie and put it online if nobody will be able to see properly on the other end?
I think that there are two main reasons for this 3d bandwagon: higher ticket prices, and it discourages piracy. Who's going to record a movie and put it online if nobody will be able to see properly on the other end?
Defilter to 2D is not an expensive piece of movie editing software, especially if you pirate it.Sporky111 said:
Hoo boy that's a whole other can of worms, but you're right. A confirmed second hand sale is a confirmed sale, and that's a sale that didn't give money to the people who made it. The same can never be said about internet piracy because everyone downloads for different reasons per infringement. Some pirate's arguments are very weak or stupid, but you usually will get a clear vibe that they had no intent on buying the product to begin with regardless of their reason. Crying over such a loss is a waste of tears.Wahful said:
Is it our right as consumers to sell and purchase used games? Hell yea! Us gamers just need to acknowledge that we aren't helping the industry when we need to save a few bucks though. Being a purchaser of used games doesn't give you the right to scoff at the pirates because neither are helping anything. At least with the pirates you know at least SOME go out and buy the game when they liked it. I can't comprehend why an owner of a used game would consider doing that themselves because they already own it.
