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Free Culture & Onlie Movies With all the copyright laws we have today, who would have thought that there would be not just one, but several websites in which you could visit that would allow you to watch almost anything you wanted to? With our advancement in technology, and the ability of certain individuals to make it public, it's happened. You can log on to these websites and watch anything from television shows, like Weeds, to older movies like The Fast and the Furious, or even movies that have just been released in theatres, such as Four Christmases, which was released just a few weeks ago. Years ago, the thought of being able to watch movies on your home computer would be far feteched, but as the years have gone by, America has become increasingly knowledgable in the use of digital technologies. According to John Seely Brown, "we are building a legal system that completely suppresses the natural tendencies of today's digital kids" (Lessig, 2004, p. 47). In this new legal system, pirates, once known as rogue individuals roaming the high seas for treasure, don't even have to leave the comfort of their computer desk. People who have found the ability to make these copyrighted movies and television shows public are the pirates of the new millennium. With the ability to watch TV and movies online for free there is less of a need to pay $8 at the theatre therefore, the creators of these sites are "rob[bing] the author of [his or her] profit" (Lessig, 2004, p. 66). The people watching for free enter the most harmful of the four categories Lessig places file sharers into; category A (users who download instead of purchasing) (Lessig, 2004, p. 68). Just how harmful to the industry these people are is questionable. In 2006, the MPA confirmed that "their all media revenue from filmed entertainment expanded by about 8%" (The Hollywood Reporter, 2007). While many people may choose to save money and watch a new movie online, there are still many others who would prefer to see the same movie on the big screen. Many of the people choosing to watch online movies more than likely wouldn't have paid to see them anyway, so very little is being lost. Quality is important when it comes to movies, and some movies are well worth seeing on the big screen. Many people may even begin watching a movie online before realizing that it is one such movie, and going to see it in a theatre. These people would then fall under the beneficial category B (people who sample before purchasing). Category C (people who download movies that are copyrighted but no longer available and therefore no longer commercially viable) are rare online, but will likely expand as the Internet does. Category D (movies that are not copyrighted to begin with) have expanded greatly with the internet in the form of user created Youtube files. Websites like Netflix.com offer a wide variety of movies for a small fee. They are not found in violation of copyright infringement, which keeps their site from being shutdown and from having movies deleted. Many of the free movie sites don't actually have a database of movies like Netflix, rather they offer a link to another site that offers the video for free. This may be the reason why these sites don't get shutdown themselves. They illegal videos exist elsewhere online. Netflix, with over 100,000 DVD titles, ships DVDs within one business day, has no late fees, and includes prepaid envelopes. With a Netflix account, movies can also be watched online, via a computer or through an Xbox's Xbox Live option for less than $10 a month. These titles, however, are limited to films that have already been released for DVD. Due in part to the painfully rising cost of movie rentals and theatre tickets, many people have begun to look for alternate sources of films. Many flock to the Internet in search of access to their favorite movies. Supprisingly, there are hundreds of movies available to the public at no cost at all. Before you get whisked away by the accesability of free movies, you should be aware of the legality of the issue. Full-length movies are not always legal to watch of download. Many of these movie-viewing sites offer movies inconsistently to avoid legal trouble, especially sites featuring new releases. Luckily for viewers, there are so many sites to choose from that chances are good that you will find what you are looking for on at least one of the free sites. Youtube has become very popular for video entertainment, but is unlikely to offer full-length movies. Google Video is like Youtube in that it is easy to access entertainment-oriented videos. These sites closely monitor what is put on them. Many companies hire people specificall to search these websites for material that is in violation of copyright law. Hulu.com is a popular site often used to watch full-length TV shows for free. This site is legal because it is advertiser driven. Sites like Watch-Movies.net and Movie6.com supply links to ofher websites that host free videos. When searching for a video, you are offered the option to watch the movie in full or in segments. When clicking the link, you are directed to a video viewing window of the host website, which is not always available. Oftentimes, you will be greated with the message, "this movie has been removed due to copyright infringement". When the video is actually there, it is usually low resolution, or even just a camcorder recording of a film in a theatre. Sometimes you are also offered the option to go to yet another site called iwannadownload.com to download a better quality version at still no cost. Illegal sites, like Movie6.net, probably do eliminate some ticket sales, but they also probably promote some movies. These sites primarily offer recent and semi-recent releases, so the benefit of having access to movies that are no longer in production doesn't exist yet in the way that it does with things like Google Books. Eventually, enough people could be online using similar sites to share old movies that may have few physical copies left. Modern copyright legislation should reflect the benefits of categories B, C, and D, while adressing the problems of category A. If film revenues are on the rise, then clearly the benefits of category B are outweighing the detriments of category A. Categories C & D benefit us as a society in the form of greater access to our expressions of culture, without affecting profit margins. In order for our society and culture to flourish we must become more and more free. We must have free culture. |