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Online piracy used to be the bogeyman for a lot of traditional media outlets. The music industry blames its decline on the prevalence of illegal downloading. Movie studios and traditional radio say pretty much the same thing. The recent rise of the e-book market has also given birth to another niche that enjoys an active underground sharing community. We’ve all heard those reports on the evening news of the MPAA or RIAA suing grandmothers and minors unknowingly downloading pirated content for millions of dollars. The excessive damages they sought were meant to serve as deterrents to others contemplating the same activities. This strategy ultimately failed to engender anything other than bad PR for the litigating bodies; illegal downloads continued unabated all over the world. Lately, it seems that there’s been a change in the industry’s views on internet piracy. Both artists as well as the corporate entities that distribute their work have begun to cease viewing online content as the enemy. Instead, they’re reformulating strategies in order to exploit the new opportunities that internet provides. It’s a smarter move compared to trying to control the web, an endeavor that was doomed to fail from the start. Recent events have shown us that having movies free online aren’t really the death knell for films that they were purported to be. In most cases they actually help build interest and hype for the film that might otherwise not be there. The biggest example of this was when X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked online. Despite some people saying that this would lead to the movie bombing in the box office, it still managed to accrue almost 400 million dollars in gross revenue. Some artists believe that having movies free online only serves to foster the fan base. It introduces new people to content that would’ve never reached them otherwise. If the work has merit, audiences would often seek out other films by the same actor or director. Once you’re a fan, shelling out real money for your passion becomes a lot easier. Those in charge are beginning to realize that having music or movies free online does not directly translate to lost sales. Not everyone who downloads your work would’ve bought a record or ticket if the free stuff wasn’t available. It’s merely an extension of when buddies freely lend each other the stuff they liked and enjoyed.
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