Here come the PIRATES...

PIRACY---an unexplored market. Yes you read it right. I would like to present a unique study of the piracy market and an opportunity of utilizing the existing piracy network as a medium of publicity and ways to harness this medium for gains over the long term. I strongly believe that if we cannot “curtail” it, then we must “exploit” it.

Piracy in media space has existed for a long time. Be it the print media, audio/video space or the software industry, piracy has eaten into the revenues of all and has grown into a massive industry in itself. Piracy is estimated to have caused losses (in terms of potential earnings) worth $4bn in India alone. If we were to consider the whole world then it is a multi-billion dollar industry.

So what is the cause for such a growth to this industry? Internet is always blamed first. But what has always been overlooked is the really wide sales network. In India there are more people selling pirated DVDs and books than there are stores selling genuine products. They are sold just like vegetables by roadside vendors. Another equally important factor is the cost. Pirated books sell for less than half the price of an original. Pirated DVDs are bundled with 3-4 movies per DVD as against 1 movie in the original and cost almost nothing. Even in terms of quality these goods almost match the original. The availability of the material in digital form over the internet allows establishment of local manufacturing units and lowers the distribution costs.

So how do we use it to our benefit? One way is to control the material being distributed through the system. An innovative way of doing this is if copyright owners distribute the material themselves. In other words they need to provide the pirates with the material to pirate. The audience interested in pirated stuff is totally different from the ones that buy original goods and hence it won’t be a hit on the existing revenue. We will only be taking a slice of the market from which there was no revenue earlier.

Pirated DVDs of movies sell most between theatrical release and DVD release of a movie. During this time movie producers can release low video quality versions, filled with ads, on their websites. This will give a small return to the producer in terms of ad revenue and publicity for the movie. Some people who have watched the low quality copy may return to watch it in theatres or buy a genuine print for their collection if the movie turned out to be good.

Print media also can use the same approach, i.e., fill their pages with ads and release e-books.

As for the long term gains here, Piracy gives a sneak preview to the section of audience not interested in watching the movie in theatres and sometimes it has found success in drawing them to theatres. A case would be director Anurag Kashyap whose initial movies were not screened at all in many places but pirated copies were available in the market. His next movie Dev D was the most awaited movie of the year and tasted huge success. Same can be said for The Dark Knight where many people thronged the theatres for a second viewing after getting a taste of the movie through pirated copies. After this Christopher Nolan is a big brand in India and his movies are now much awaited.

In print media, pirated copies were largely responsible for establishment of the Harry Potter brand in India. The initial volumes of the book created a fan following and the reach of the pirated network made sure it was wide. This resulted in huge sales of genuine versions of the later volumes that were rolled out.

Pirated copies of Microsoft Windows OS bundled with assembled computers have led to a big crowd of Windows literate people making it the preferred choice of OS for any new business. Sometimes I wonder, maybe Microsoft themselves released their products in the Grey market to tap the wide audience, so that a hoard of Windows literate users emerge, making Windows the world’s most preferred OS. But I rather keep these thoughts to myself.

Another indisputable fact is that piracy has contributed to the growth of our economy. Availability of cheap DVDs has actually boosted the sales of electronic goods. Sales of TV,DVD players, speakers,earphones, amplifiers,etc. needed to play the DVDs have contributed to the growth of many companies. Piracy can be credited to have contributed (in a small way) in the growth of the internet too.

Piracy will continue to exist until suitable and stricter laws are in place. But considering the wide reach and benefits in terms of publicity would we want to dismantle the network completely .That is a question to be answered.