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Some have called you the MPAA's enforcer. What's your background, and how did you get to the MPAA?
Garfield: I got here from law school. I'm a lawyer by training. I was working for the recording industry for five years, and I think the impetus to work here was that I could help the motion picture industry avoid some of the pitfalls that the recording industry encountered.
That's one of the things I like about working here. People here really do want to learn. Our industry is filled with folks that are very interested in learning and listening to consumers.
What's the biggest misconception about the MPAA?
Garfield: That we are a bunch of Luddites that do not understand technology and are not interested in giving consumers what they want, or that we're only interested in saying "no."
They think that we're interested only in keeping people from getting motion picture content. The truth is that we're in the business of making motion pictures, and marketing and distributing motion pictures. We want people to have it worldwide. But we want them to have it legitimately.
The Pirate Party in Sweden has plans to spread the anticopyright movement all over the world. Does it worry you that that some people see the issue of copyright as an attempt by Hollywood to suppress information and are painting piracy as a crusade?
Garfield: It is a concern. Part of our challenge is to view the Pirate Party, and those who support it, as a market competitor. We have to make sure that we, as an industry, are as attuned to the marketplace as they are. We have to be steadfast to respond to market wishes. We also shouldn't close our eyes to it, and we will be responsive to it.
Do you think that the Pirate Party's attempts to battle you guys at the ballot box is a legitimate way to work out these issues?
Garfield: There's nothing about what the Pirate Bay does or what the Pirate Party does that is legitimate. There's nothing philosophically principled about it. They steal copyright content and accept advertising dollars based on taking other people's work. There's nothing noble about it.
What's your technology background?
Garfield: Initially, working at a law firm, I had an interest in working with technology. What was important was that I got into this area very early, in 1998 or 1999, when a lot of these things were developing.
I knew that to understand what the best legal arguments were, I needed a deep understanding of the technology, and so I always tried to surround myself with people who understood it very well. So I'm not a technologist by training, by any stretch of the imagination, but I ask a lot of questions and sought out people who understand it.
Have you seen, among the file-sharing applications, any that could one day be a friend to Hollywood?
Garfield: It's not our role to endorse any particular technology, but I've seen a ton of stuff that could bring us great value. Already, BitTorrent has real value, because it's a really efficient way of transferring large files over the Internet. This is a big problem.
For us, BitTorrent holds real promise because our stuff is really large. It's hard to predict now where this will be 5 or 10 years down the road, but the potential is promising.
When you think that the motion picture industry, on a worldwide basis, is unique in that we are the dominant audiovisual art form in almost every country around the world--and delivering our content around the world requires real know-how--there is a real infrastructure around getting a movie that is premiering in the United States to countries around the world.
And technologies will help us do this more efficiently. For example, the rollout of digital cinema--that will help us go to places that don't necessarily have the infrastructure to get our content right now.
What about BitTorrent tracker sites, like TorrentSpy and Isohunt? A judge has ruled that TorrentSpy has to turn over information from its RAM over to the MPAA. Are you going to continue to go after these sites?
Garfield: Yes. I think our strategy has always been multifaceted. It will include litigation, but it will also include technology development (of security applications), and partnering with third parties, and creating real, legitimate alternatives to piracy. And all the studios are working very hard at this individually.
Just a year and a half ago, they invested a significant amount of money in creating MovieLabs to help them with the technological development. We will continue the legal efforts here, but it will always be supported by the efforts to give consumers a legitimate and attractive way to download movies. 
See more CNET content tagged:
Dean Garfield, Hollywood, piracy, music industry, Grokster Ltd.
People who steal the music and movies associate that CD and that DVD with the stars of the medium. Tom Hanks has a ton of money- and people think "well he has enough money, I can steal from him." What they don't realize is the 100+ people on that CREDITS (that nobody watches unless there is a scene at the end) -- do NOT have a ton of money- and really need you to pay for that movie or that song. The engineers and the day-to-day people are really working for their minimal pay.
I don't steal movies. I don't steal music-- however I DO have a problem paying $15 for a CD of an artist that's been dead for a long time. If the artist is the chief songwriter/musician- the prices should drop when he died, because he is no longer benefiting. I don't need to pay for his son or daughters college. Or his grandsons
But what SHOULD be shown to many people is that USED Cds and DVDs are a viable market. If I really want a CD or DVD, if I know I'll like most of it- I'll buy it, no problem. But I'll check online or (if I could find a local store) Local stores for used copies.
It's lower prices.
Better value
Good quality (they are checked for scratches and such)
and it's better for the environment.
/rant.
I will occasionally by a new disc, but only when I know it is a sure thing, usually after seeing\hearing it from someone who already has it.
I have never been compelled to feel sorry for all those "poor little rich kids" of Hollywood, whether in music or in the movies. Their daily escapades, where they publicly **** away more money in one night of partying than I make in an entire month, hardly makes me weep for their terrible piracy losses!
But, you're right - during a PSA, have Tom Hanks walk through Industrial Light and Magic's offices pointing to all the nameless geeks (just like us) who's jobs are jeopardized by media piracy. That might have a very great educational impact.
Now all you have to do is get your great idea to these "poor little rich studio" guys...
same rent and you dont want his children who inherited the
property dont have the same right to it.
QFA:
"We embrace technology and use it to tell our stories more effectively. If you look at the list of movies that have broken new ground, from Star Wars to Polar Express, nobody would look at those movies and suggest our industry is afraid of technology. The truth is quite the opposite."
Nice dodge. Hollywood embraces technology to the extent it doesn't challenge there business model.
Hollywood was behind the DVD only after VHS put to rest the Hollywood's notion that home video would kill there their industry by proving home video sales could be very lucrative. Indeed, a huge chunk of Hollywoods profits are now from the sale of home video..ironic.
So yeah, they'll embrace technology for special effects and processing, but if it's distribution tech, they'll fight like hell to get it legislated sued it out of existence. Only after embarrassing themselves will they eventually embrace it, assuming that didn't succeed at killing it.
In summary, if you drag them kicking and screaming then they will eventually embrace it.
The Hollywood and record labels are going for death by a 1,000 cuts. They continue to alienate consumers with draconian enforcement (DRM and searches at movie theaters), while at the same time turning out content designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. If you're dumb enough to pay for their stuff your reward is content laden with technological restrictions that only seem to hamper legitimate consumers...no wonder piracy is appealing. If DRM actually worked, piracy wouldn't be a problem.
Final, if Dean Garfield is representative of the thinking at the Hollywood studios then they're as mess up as previously thought.
Using a simple and free "piracy tool" I can burn a backup copy of the movie that will not have any of the above and has the added benefit of being disposable if my kid uses it as a frisbee...
The debate on piracy is filled with these "little issues" that are inconsequential to the studios because they don't represent bigger profits, but are real issues to the consumer.
Getting real about piracy means the studios have to realize that the world doesn't want to march to their drum... it means accpeting that monetizing every little aspect isn't a valid strategy in the long run, and most of all it means accpeting the idea that every "pirated copy" of content DOES NOT REPRESENT A LOST SALE.
I think we are still a very long way from getting real about piracy.
Technology can indeed show rights holders where their content is being re-used across the Web. It can also provide them with the context of re-use: Did they copy all of it or just the trailer? Is someone making money off my content? Are they providing a link back to my site ? or, more interestingly, did they place a widget where users can buy the full movie directly from the site?
With this confidence, rights holders can fully embrace the Internet and jump-start the online content economy to flourish.
Good article - I look forward to the day when the headline for stories like these read ?Hollywood?s digital marketplace?
To me it's all a bunch bs, the mpaa and all the crying they do. How can they even say that piracy hurts their industry? It's as simple as this, if you are a movie production company, and you take short-cuts to make your movie, it certainly will fail. It's all what you put into it effort-wise, that's what they fail to tell you. They'll say, well such and such movie isn't selling so well, so it must be piracy, it's probably more like, because the movie sucks, or the production studio took too many short-cuts, or had a crappy plot.
It's all a vain attempt to blame comsumers for poor quality entertainment. If hollywood wants to keep its good name as a standard for entertainment, then maybe they should start a organazation that won't let movies with no thought, or crap talent from even being released to begin with.
If movies these days we're made anything like the movies from the 50's,60's,70's and 80's, with alot more thought instead of copying every movie that's ever been made, doing remakes, etc, then the movie industry would thrive even more.
Why would you buy a movie you know you won't like? Same arguement goes for music, why pay for songs that shouldn't have been made in the first place? Garbage is garbage, you don't go around to peoples homes asking if you can buy their garbage, then why would you pay for something of equal value in a movie or a song?
That's the part the mpaa and riaa don't mention, and never will, because they know deep down it's what really kills the sale, and not pirating.
This "crappy content" argument is a flawed as the studio's definition of piracy. If it's really that bad, just don't watch. Then they really will stop making it.
- There are a few things that the MPAA would need to do
- by itango August 29, 2007 2:37 PM PDT
- before they receive my respect. To the movie and music industries:
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- copyright infringement IS THEFT
- by Music Stealer September 19, 2007 9:01 PM PDT
- it amazes me to see so many people try to justify their
- Like this
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(14 Comments)First, all those antipiracy "warnings" at the beginning of movies that we are forced to sit through in several languages grossly misstate the law. A consumer still has the right to make a copy for personal use (no sharing) and they have the right to resell the DVD or CD "second hand". Do not try to usurp the few remaining rights of the consumer.
Second, I would stop buying all DVDs and CDs immediately if I could not make a replacement copy, because my son is very hard on media, and it seems that the industry allows movies to be sold for a short time (up to one year) and then the movie or CD is nowhere to be found. Maybe if I am lucky, I can replace a ruined copy years later, or never.
Here's a free suggestion - do not take movies/CDs out of circulation - if I could be assured of being able to buy a replacement copy when I, the consumer, wanted it (not when the movie/media conglomerates decided to let me have it), I would not need to make backup copies. And I would pay for a new copy every time, because the quality of the recording or movie is improved as new technology is available. I would rather buy my favorite older movies again on HDVD or Blue Ray, than watch a backup copy.
Third, it is a terrible idea to sue your customers as a busines model. Most pirates are not now nor will ever be customers, so penalizing the people who support your business model by crippling the content and severely restricting the few rights customers have left because you cannot reach the pirates actually infringing is a very stupid thing to do, and it turns off customers that would otherwise support you completely. I and many like me do not like being lumped in with the "pirates" because we want to make a backup copy of media we have purchased legitimately.
Although I know I do not represent all consumers, I used to buy a lot of DVDs and CDs years ago - at present the numbers in my collection are: 3,800 movies, 5,600 music CDs. All were purchased, and 100% are backed up to copies. For the last three years, I have been so disgusted with the music and movie industries' tactics that my buying habits have drastically declined. DRM, copying restrictions, loading of advertising on every disc and the heavy handed-ness of the industry has turned me off completely. Add to this scenario that the quality of US-made movies(especially)has severely deteriorated (in my opinion) and you have an explanation why the studios are losing money, rather than their favorite excuse(that pirates are the reason their sales are down). Your sales are down because people like me no longer spend $400 a month buying your movies.
Finally, stop claiming that copying movies and DVDs is "theft" - it is not. It is copyright infringement.
behaviour. Just because you CAN copy your friends hard drive
containing 100GIGs of music and movies, doesnt make it right
to do so. It's not much different than walking into a store and
taking merchandise out without paying for it, just because you
can sneak it out. Just like when Katrina hit New Orleans and
people walked into unattended stores and simply took
merchandise because they could get away with it. Bottom
line....it's stealing. When I see "fans" try to get autographs from
entertainers I often wonder how many of these people stole
product from that entertainer just before asking for the
autograph.