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MillimeterStudio Executive Takes Anti-Piracy Plea to Silicon Valley
Nov 20, 2002 12:00 PM
Studio Executive Takes Anti-Piracy Plea to Silicon Valley Chernin
says 'stop the rip-offs' By Jim Thompson, The
Daily
via Comdex.com
"Stop ripping us off" was the impassioned plea from News Corp. President Peter Chernin and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas at a Tuesday COMDEX Fall keynote presentation. "I am here to suggest that technology and media companies form a partnership so we can combat the rash of stealing that threatens us both," implored Chernin. "We have nothing more urgently in common than the escalating theft of our products."
Chernin, who is also chairman and CEO of the Fox Group, noted that the piracy of motion pictures and software is reaching epidemic proportions and destroying the ability of the technology industry to evolve. He added that a partnership between the technology and entertainment industries is beyond question since it can stop "years of robbery in broad daylight and copyright losses of around $8 billion a year."
Master film maker George Lucas added his voice to the call to stop the theft of films, computer software and other intellectual property. "There is no free lunch. No matter how free it seems, someone is paying for it. In the end, when someone gets ripped off or someone is getting something for free, someone else is getting screwed. The big corporations are like cockroaches, they will survive anything. It’s the artists who suffer."
Both Lucas and Chernin emphasized that the real losers in the theft of creative property are the consumers. Great films, like "Star Wars" or "The Lord of the Rings" simply will not be made if the producers, actors and technicians fail to make a fair profit because revenue is deluded by piracy.
Three excuses for piracy
Chernin identified three ways the "pirates" justify their actions. The first is what he called the "Dinosaur" theory, which states that the opposition to piracy is simply a distrust of technology and a knee-jerk defense from a dying breed. "We have been accused of being a lot of things, but by no stretch of the imagination are we anti-technology. We have embraced and pioneered many technological breakthroughs. In fact, the only economic and technological development we haven’t embraced is the option of getting ripped-off."
The "Big Bully" theory," which holds that content providers want to roll back the rights, freedom and privileges of consumers, is another false accusation he attacked head on. "We have no objections to anyone making copies of television programming," Chernin said. "We want a balance between viewers rights that are brought about by digital technology and the creator’s right not to be digitally looted."
Finally, there is the "Screw the Suits" theory which states that illegal downloads are only rebellious slaps at what he called the "rich idiots and slick Hollywood offices who have it coming." The rational is that the corporate drones only care about money and they already have more than they need.
"The stealing of creative products through digital means is a blow to creativity, not to corporate might," countered Chanin. "In other words, there must be better ways to ‘screw the suits.’ Digital copyright theft is less harmful to executives at the highest levels than it is to the countless people at the creative level who use their hands and minds to build motion pictures. These are the people who are truly at the heart of what we do."
He also reminded the audience that broadband has the potential to both expand the creativity of the world or to strike what may be a fatal blow to the industry. "I have not come to COMDEX to stop all digital stealing. I come to this vast showcase of the world’s most advanced technologies to offer the most old fashioned of things -- optimism. I have great confidence that together we can restore to both our industries the explosive growth that is within our reach.”
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.