Perils of piracy

Do you know that there are 254 torrents that released Avenger: Endgame? Another ghastly revealed fact is Avengers was out 30 hours before the release date of the movie. Here’s what fans and experts had to say.  

When asked Ritesh Venkatesh, a Marvel fan and assistant team lead in a start-up says, “I’m a follower of Marvel’s imprints and his movies. Even though I haven’t yet watched the movie, I heard the pirated version was out 30 hours prior to the movie release. Epic movies with great VFX on small screens especially with a bad print cannot be encouraged. But the pirated videos with HD print via torrents, pleases the viewers. The increase in price of movie tickets in theatres and multiplexes is clearly the reasons for the rapid growth of piracy and its related links and torrents, I get to watch it for free with no hassle.

Being a simple guy, I don’t mind watching the pirated movies too if it is available in HD print with 720 to 1080 pixels. Affordable rates in the movie theatres can be initiated which can help curb the rise in piracy these days. The government passed a rule stating that theatres are not supposed to charge more than Rs 150 irrespective of national holidays. Due to lack of strict rules, we can understand this is directly associated to the increase in piracy. It is something that people cannot stop. It is a process and will take long time to end.”

Arun Kumar, a start-up employee says “Even though I do not watch movies from the pirated sites, I do not entertain piracy of any movies. It is illegal and the government must take legal action against those who are involved in such acts. Banning all these sites websites in one go may let the piracy content shrink.”

Not to encourage the pirated  versions and to completely keep a check on the uploaders with the help of authentication of IP address will help says a Aushutosh. A diploma student of flm studies, Aushutosh Kumar from SIFT says, “Uploading new films online  leads to a loss for filmmakers, distributors, producers and theatres especially the smaller ones. If there is a constant surveillance on those who upload and download where the IP address is also trackable, strict action can be charged against it.”

When asked Anindya Sengupta, professor from Jadavpur University which started the first film studies department said “Pirated versions affect the producers and distributors primarily, not the filmmakers, because it eats into the revenue collected. But the cam-rips which get uploaded within a day of the film’s release are of immensely poor quality, viewing which degenerates the viewing habit of the spectators. While we demand quality from the filmmakers, we should also be conscious of the quality of films we consume too. Therefore, the viewers should refrain from viewing such pirated stuff.”

Anirban Lahari, an independent film maker and Senior Faculty of filmmaking, Ramesh Sippy Academy, Mumbai University shares “I support film sharing for no profit. Film is a commodity and it belongs to the company who produces it however, this diminishes the actual makers. The platforms for filmmaking and film exhibition throughout the world are creating trusts, guilds and cartels. Today, we don’t need a centralised studio system to make entertaining films. It is possible simply by crowdfunding by popular patrons. Directors are paid just 5,000 rs for episode and DOPs with 2,000rs. So it is the publisher who is making huge profits from it. And that is how the pirated forms of movies will be out leaving aside the hard work of all the cast and crew of the film.”

Before the movie is set to release, Marvel brothers tweeted a letter not to spoil the movie for the fans by spoilers and pirated versions and thanked the viewers for htheir investment of money and time.