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Combating Internet Piracy: How to Compete With Free The entertainment industry has been at war with internet piracy for almost as long as the internet has existed. What essentially boils down to file sharing of copyrighted material, internet piracy costs just the music industry $12.5 billion annually.1 The American motion picture industry lost a reported $6.1 billion worldwide in 2005.2 Most of these losses are suffered by the large production companies, while the artists arent as effected do to their contracts. In most cases actors and artists contracts give them only a small percentage of the profits, while their record label or production company takes the majority of the profits. The strategy of industry leaders to combat file sharing is pushing for legislation such as the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Artists have opportunities to protect their interests as well. Given the vast potential the internet provides, there are multiple methods artists can use to break away from the entertainment industrys mold to encourage the legitimate use of their content. ThePirateBay.se is one of the most notorious piracy sites on the internet today. It actively supports, encourages, and facilitates copyright infringement on a massive scale. Based in Sweden, a country whose laws regarding copyright infringement are lax compared to America, it has been able to avoid shut down. It provides links known as torrents that allow the sharing of files between multiple users across the globe.

Siwek, Stephen E. THE TRUE COST OF SOUND RECORDING PIRACY TO THE U.S. ECONOMY. Rep. no. 188. Institute For Policy Innovation,

21 Aug. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ipi.org/IPI%5CIPIPublications.nsf/PublicationLookupFullText/5C2EE3D2107A4C228625733E0053A1F4>.

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THE COST OF MOVIE PIRACY. L.E.K. Consulting. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://austg.com/include/downloads/PirateProfile.pdf>.

Recently ThePirateBay.se has started a campaign it has coined The Promo Bay. The idea is geared towards independent musicians, directors, and comedians to allow them to promote their work on the front page of ThePirateBay.se. For instance, a musician submits a short application containing their work, how they would like the advertisement to look, and up to three countries they would like the advertisement to appear in. If it is chosen out of the pool of applications, the advertisement replaces the sites logo for a short time. When clicking on the ad, it would link the user to the artists work, whether it is a Youtube.com channel, or a Facebook.com page. The only stipulation is that the content is free and easy to access. This can benefit the artists in multiple ways. According to Alexa.com, a website that can provide accurate internet traffic data, ThePirateBay.se is the 101st most visited site globally monthly, and the 84th most visited site in the United States.3 It receives almost 2 billion page views a month from over 4 million unique visitors. This is a massive opportunity for an independent artist to release his or her work to global audience. Toms Vergara, director of a short film called The Chase, was very successful capitalizing on this idea. After the advertisement went up, his film received 250,000 online views in three days. Afterwards he posted on his films website that ThePirateBay.se provided him massive exposure he couldnt have received otherwise.4

ALEXA.COM. Rep. Alexa: The Web Information Company. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thepiratebay.se>.
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Vergara, Toms. "The Chase The Promo Bay." Web log post. The Chase. 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://thechaseshortfilm.com/>.

George Barnett, an independent musician, also had great success with The Promo Bay. On March 13th, 2012 he uploaded his newest self-released album, entitled 17 Days. He sells his music on his personal website georgebarnett.co.uk as well, and according to comments on the torrent file of the album many fans purchased his other music to support him. This may be in part due to his advertisement, which was simply a picture of him with a short statement: You can now download a torrent of my showcase album 17 Days, on which I play nearly every instrument. This was uploaded on 13 March 2012, because although I like money and that people buy my songs, I also understand what its like to be broke too and I still value your support.5 The Promo Bay promotion is still taking place, and it has gained massive popularity. The Pirate Bay reports that theyve received more than 5000 applications since starting the event. The future will show what the impact of the Pirate Bay promotion is. Im absolutely certain that at least 2 or 3 of them have become superstars by then, stated Winston, a Pirate Bay representative in a TorrentFreak.com article.6 Artists dont make a direct profit from being a part of the promotion, but the exposure they receive is enough to put them in a public spotlight. George Barnetts experience proves that just because something is free does not mean people wont pay for it.

Poling, James. "UK Musician George Barnett Says Understands If You Need to Pirate His New Album." Weblog post. James Poling: Made in Brooklyn. 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://jamespoling.com/uk-musician-george-barnettsays-he-understands-if-you-need-to-pirate-his-new-album/>. Ernesto. "5000+ Artists Line Up For a Pirate Bay Promotion." Weblog post. TorrentFreak.com. 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://torrentfreak.com/5000-artists-line-up-for-a-pirate-bay-promotion-120405/>.

Megaupload.com was the most popular file sharing service on the web. It allowed users to upload a file and receive a link which they could share so other users could download the file. When Megaupload was seized in December 2011, the founders were experimenting with a system they called MegaBox. MegaBox would have been a download platform where musical artists could upload their songs for sale. Kim Dotcom, Megauploads founder, stated it would be their ITunes competitor. Megaupload would make most of their profits off advertisements, allowing artists to keep 90 percent of the profits from music sales. In addition, artists who upload their music for free access can still get paid by Megaupload from advertisement revenue. This system was called MegaKey, and gave a portion of ad profits to the artists. The more their music was downloaded, the more ad revenue was made. Before Megaupload was brought down, its partners for Megabox included 7digital, Rovi, Gracenote, and Amazon. Unfortunately with the seizure of Megaupload, it would appear MegaBox may never come to fruition. Megaupload was very capable of changing the music industry, being the 13th most visited site on the internet before it was taken down, according to Alexa.com.7 It also claimed backing by multiple popular musicians who wished to break away from their record labels. Perhaps if the creators of Megaupload emerge from their current legal battle triumphant, they can make Megabox a reality. Those are just two options musicians can consider, but music is not the only thing being affected by illegal file sharing over the internet. Stage performers, such as comedians, also have

ALEXA.COM Rep. Alexa: The Web Information Company. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/megaupload.com>.

their performances shared without their consent. A search for Dane Cook, a popular comedian, on ThePirateBay.se brings up almost 50 results.8 Louis C.K. is a very famous comedian known for his stand-up comedy, supporting roles in movies, and a show on the FX network. He executed an experiment involving the internet community and his fans. In a letter posted to his website 4 days after its release, Louis states: The experiment was: if I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?9 The production was a recording of two shows done at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. He paid for, directed, and produced the shows, the recording, and the website to distribute the special. In total he claims to have spent $202,000. Ticket prices returned him roughly $170,000 of that. $32,000 went into the website to ensure it was easy to access, navigate, and could handle a large amount of traffic and downloading. In the same letter, he states 12 hours after release of the special, he sold over fifty thousand copies, netting him around $250,000 dollars. Four days later that number was over 110,000 copies sold. Twelve days later he made over $1,000,000. 10

The Pirate Bay. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://thepiratebay.se/search/dane%20cook/0/7/0/>.

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C.K., Louis. Louis CK: Live at The Beacon Theater. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <https://buy.louisck.net/news>. See 9.

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I believe anyone would call that a success. Louis C.K. considered it a success, and hopes to release all of his material in this fashion from now on. He attributed the low piracy rates to the low price of the special, the ease of access, the lack of restrictions, and the lack of a middle man raising the price. Louis stated in his letter: This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely If the trend continues with sales on this video, my goal is that I can reach the point where when I sell anything, be it videos, CDs or tickets to my tours, Ill do it here and Ill continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.11 This model worked very well for him, being an established figure in the entertainment industry and having the funds to make it a reality. I see this business model being difficult for artists and entertainers to perform without the proper funds that production companies and record labels can provide. Perhaps that is a trade-off inherent to the industry. Its clear there are ways for entertainers to release their creations to deter piracy. The similarities visible are ease of access, low price, and the lack of a middle man raising the prices for their own profit. These middle men, being record labels and productions companies, seem

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to be fighting the internet, while artists and entertainers are embracing it. Its been shown in the past that stiffened legislation on copyright infringement does not solve the problem of internet piracy. If that were the case, new legislation would not have to be drafted to increase penalties and censor or remove sites. If these models are repeated, the future of the entertainment industry is freedom from the contracts and restrictions imposed by record labels and production companies, content that is easy to access and enjoy by consumers, and increased profits from the people creating it.

Works Cited

ALEXA.COM Rep. Alexa: The Web Information Company. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/megaupload.com>. ALEXA.COM. Rep. Alexa: The Web Information Company. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thepiratebay.se>. Burns, Matt. "Was Megaupload Targeted Because Of Its Upcoming Megabox Digital Jukebox Service?" Weblog post. TechCrunch. 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/was-megaupload-targeted-because-of-its-upcomingmegabox-digital-jukebox-service/>. C.K., Louis. Louis CK: Live at The Beacon Theater. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <https://buy.louisck.net/news>. Ernesto. "5000+ Artists Line Up For a Pirate Bay Promotion." Weblog post. TorrentFreak.com. 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://torrentfreak.com/5000-artists-line-up-for-a-pirate-baypromotion-120405/>. Poling, James. "UK Musician George Barnett Says Understands If You Need to Pirate His New Album." Weblog post. James Poling: Made in Brooklyn. 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://jamespoling.com/uk-musician-george-barnett-says-he-understands-if-you-need-topirate-his-new-album/>. Resnikoff, Paul. "MegaUpload Is Now Launching a Music Service Called MegaBox..." Weblog post. Digital Music News. 21 Dec. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111221airvinyl>. Siwek, Stephen E. THE TRUE COST OF SOUND RECORDING PIRACY TO THE U.S. ECONOMY. Rep. no. 188. Institute For Policy Innovation, 21 Aug. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ipi.org/IPI%5CIPIPublications.nsf/PublicationLookupFullText/5C2EE3D2107A4C228 625733E0053A1F4>. THE COST OF MOVIE PIRACY. L.E.K. Consulting. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://austg.com/include/downloads/PirateProfile.pdf>.

The Pirate Bay. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://thepiratebay.se/search/dane%20cook/0/7/0/>.

Vergara, Toms. "The Chase The Promo Bay." Web log post. The Chase. 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://thechaseshortfilm.com/>.