I have no desire to tip off every lurker, and tell them where pirated porn is. That defeats the purpose.

Also, I don't have the time to contact each studio, individually.

[Link]

It might be a bit difficult to monitor due to false reports but it would be a start.

[Link]

They told me there was seminar during trade only days of AEE that spoke about how the industry would police such things in the future.

Here is bulk of the email

[FSC does not have a division specifically established to address piracy, although we are aware of the torrent websites and others who are illegally profitting from the materials produced by and copyrighted to others.

There is no organization set up to address these issues, aside from us, within the adult entertainment industry that I'm aware of. FYI, FSC itself will be sponsoring a Piracy Seminar at the upcoming AEE/Internext trade show in Las Vegas. As you may know, that show is the largest of the year and that seminar will undoubtedly be well-attended. We're flying in attorneys from around the world (literally, including Australia, the U.S., Canada, etc.) and companies who have successful track records in litigating copyright infringement on their own behalf.

Hopefully, if you're coming to that show, you can sign up to attend that seminar which may be of assistance to you. If not, other opportunities like this will be provided by FSC as time goes by. We're very aware of the problem and the erosion of profits to our member companies and this is a first major step on our part to help industry professionals begin learning about and discussing the issue toward individual or group solutions.]

It's bigger than "snitching" or anything like that.Industry needs to issue a warning about the rules being violated and demand that it stops, and then those who choose to keep doing it, get what they get..and nobody will feel sorry for them.

[Link]

Most of these sites are just offering it up free in the spirit of sharing good porn. I'm not saying its completely right -- but its not as bad as actually selling "pirate" copies.

[Link]

Topics like this tend to heat up discussions quite good. Actually i can not follow 100%. For me, if a movie or cd is good i´ll always buy the "original". Never bought a "bootleg" or fake one (not knowingly). I even think that alot of the stuff that people may be collecting ends up on a giant stack that is so huge they never have the time to check it anyways.
So, the only "winners" in this are the harddrive and blank dvd/cd vendors. What any company should worry about though is the fact that their movies sometimes could be found even b4 the official release date.

Another thing i find "very" disturbing is the fact that companies that buy the rights to release movies in other countries may have the right not to have their own company logo on "their" releases. The customer has no way of knowing if this is the "original" us release or a release by a local company.

Cube

Edited by - cubesnake on 1/21/2007 4:55:19 AM

[Link]

This said, it would be useful to have screenshots of each scene to see what happens in a movie. Some studios think it is harmful for their sales to show content. As far as I am concerned, I am a regular buyer and usually skip movies where I do not have sufficient information. Given copyright laws, it should be the job of studios and online retailers to give screenshots of their movies. This would probably increase their sales.

[Link]

That's what should concern the distributors of pirated porn. The quality is getting very good these days. A high-resolution Divx-encoded (or WMV) version of a your typical porn shot is available for LEGAL download from sites like CombatZone.net. The quality there is incredibly good, good enough to burn to DVD and watch on my plasma. The quality of these pirated porn DVD's isn't that much different.

[Link]

There is no reason why they can't have files of the exact same quality as the legitimite websites do for streaming/downloading.

Also, if they're selling bootleg DVDs, they have no reason to have to reduce the quality to any less than what it takes to fit on a single-sided DVD.
When you look at and examine a DVD, the main feature (leaving all the extras, etc. out) will often fit to a single-sided DVD with very little quality reduction, and sometimes none needed at all.

So, if you buy a DVD that has nothing but the main feature on it, and it's on a single-sided DVD, odds are extremely high you got stuck with a bootleg.

[Link]

What if you recommend a film on a message board, show a small sample clip then give a link to the forum members as to where to purchase the entire film?

Would that still be considered wrong or illegal?

Edited by - iwork247 on 1/22/2007 4:49:59 PM

[Link]

Not ALL production companies give you a preview or even a clip of all the movies they produced. Hell I wouldn't even say the VAST majority of them do.

BTW, I personally wouldn't need to do this and hasn't done it but I would think that it would be helpful if someone was trying to find a peculiar film that's hard to find.

Edited by - iwork247 on 1/22/2007 5:49:09 PM

[Link]

To even further expand on this, entire DVD-9 (dual layer) have been uploaded before. In this case, the downloaders have several options:

1. Choose to view it on their PCs in full quality
2. Copy the DVD9 to a Dual Layer DVD-DL media with full quality (not frequent cause DL media is expensive)
3. Reduce the quality of the DVD9 so that it fits on a single DVD5 and burn to DVD-R
4. Maintain the full quality of the DVD9 and split it across 2 DVD-Rs
5. Cut their favorite scenes/portions from the DVD9 and fit them into a DVD5 (full quality on the scenes)
6. Use software to compress the DVD9 into a XVID/DiVX file.

Note that #5 happens a lot because very often consumers only want 1 or 2 scenes from a DVD. With the right software, you can make your own custom DVD compilations using many commerical DVDs as sources. In fact another form of "soft" piracy is to rent several DVDs and then copy your favorite scenes from them into your own compilation.

Edited by - tritone on 1/23/2007 1:05:24 PM

[Link]

And it shows!
Their DVDs look far inferior to almost everything else that is out there.
I've been wondering if it has something to do with keeping the look consistent through the entire DVD. Specifically, when you're mixing previously unreleased scenes with Peter North from 2002 and 2003, along with current girls and scenes, you've got a problem.
I don't think I've seen any current scenes with Peter North in well-over six months (maybe even a year).
I'm starting to wonder if this isn't a well-kept secret (that Peter has been taking a break, or, God forbid, stopped performing).

Edited by - BigBobxxx on 1/23/2007 1:23:25 PM

[Link]

So they are not *pirating* anything at the website,nor selling anything. They are,however,letting you know what is readily available to the everyday person who knows there way around usenet and would probably find the stuff on their own anyway (like i have).

Tom

Edited by - jjtommyjj on 1/23/2007 1:45:39 PM

Edited by - jjtommyjj on 1/23/2007 1:48:24 PM

[Link]

[mod]At any rate, and speaking to the forum in general, we are starting to wander far off CyberChicken's reason for starting the thread. To prevent the thread from being derailed to the extent it requires the lock, consider this fair warning that further off-topic posts may be removed for content violation. [/mod]

[Link]

snipped: no need to advertise for them, LubeNLuv.

I agree that digital distribution is the distribution vehicle of the future (well even now for that matter), but distributors deserve to protect their content and, in the case of porn, it's WAY behind the MPAA and RIAA efforts. Not that I'm a fan of those efforts....I find them highly distasteful and completely heavy-handed. But I'd like to see the porn industry take a friendlier approach to keeping their content secure. It's almost as if there is ZERO concern about it in this industry. This very post is a good example of that.

Edited by - hardware on 1/23/2007 6:31:12 PM

[Link]

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...RIAA and MPAA were late at addressing the issue.....I think porn industry needs to take action.

Again. the freespeechcoalition is doing what they can do for now....

[Link]

Where I live, there are several stores that periodically have small batches of DVDs on the shelves that just don't look like they'd meet the smell test: the packaging doesn't look quite right, the boxcover art/photos look as though they came off a mid-level color copier rather than a professional printer, etc. And I'm not referring to off-brand studios, but several of the majors. Everything else in the store appears to be authentic, based on a cursory visual inspection, that is.

It would be difficult for anyone to stand in the store for a while taking "inventory" notes (e.g., 3 copies of Title A, 2 copies of Title B, and so forth, without that drawing unwanted attention fairly quickly. And maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect that when porn is concerned, local authorities wouldn't be all that aggressive in, say, cracking down to seize the merchandise, or setting up sting operations to try to nab the distributors/manufacturers of the pirated goods. (In a perfect world, of course, local law enforcement would make no distinction as between non-porn and porn DVDs, but that's not the world I live in.)

So in these circumstances, what is the recommended course of action for the casual customer who wants to do the right thing? Suggestions?

[Link]

I'm chiefly involved/interested in the interracial genre at the moment (I make money through affiliate sales with my site Click here), but I'm starting to diversify my interests. Within this particular genre, I can point to two forums which are IR specific and are absolute smorgasbords of pirated/ripped material. There's an ongoing (100 pages at last count) movie post thread on one of these forums that recently passed two million views...anyone care to put a dollar figure on that? And that's just one of many, I'm sad to say.

One begins with 'n', the other is affiliated to a prominent black performer. With the amount and frequency of new stuff available on these two sites, I can't see why anyone would conceivably spend money on interracial DVDs or paysite memberships...I just thank my lucky stars that some people still do.

Without getting lawyers involved, hasn't any producer thought of just simply picking up the phone to said performer and explaining the realities of the situation to them, and then having them relay that to the people on their forum? If I were a producer, I'd be inclined to withold work from said performer until the situation cleared itself up...hopefully this would be a last resort, and a quiet word in their ear may suffice?

Personally, I think the industry needs some sort of organised anti-piracy body to pursue legal action against those who would steal from it, but as I say, the apathy towards this subject seems nothing short of overwhelming.

Edited by - darkside762000 on 1/24/2007 7:16:09 AM

[Link]

I have heard numerous claims/stories of replicators/duplicators/distributors helping themselves to their own copies of another's movie.

One client was once told by a large distributor would not take his new release because they could buy it cheaper from another source. My client had a suspicion that his movie was being pirated by his replicator but had no way of proving if it was true.

Michael

AdultBizLaw.com

Edited by - pornlaw on 1/24/2007 4:44:13 AM

[Link]

There is an ongoing argument, usually presented by the piracy proponents, that the mass availability of MP3's and movies available for "free" download (usenet, P2P, etc) actually CONTRIBUTES to more sales of the real product. Either because someone "samples" the product and wants more or the original or for other reasons. I've never seen the actual data that supports this theory, but the logic seems to be at least somewhat sound. I will often make an "impulse" purchase of a DVD simply because I recognize the performer/director to be someone that's produced product I enjoyed in the past.

There is little doubt that SOME of the "pirated" goods are coming from inside sources, be they performers or editors or whomever. Many of the DVD's indexed on one of the more popular piracy sites are uploaded to Usenet days to weeks before they are available for purchase. Those have to be from either screeners or (more likely) sources within the production/distribution channels.

What's different about porn versus the music industry, in my mind at least, is that in the music and mainstream video industry, the performers actually can have a contracted interest in the sales of the final product. In the porn industry, where the vast majority of performers seem to be paid "by scene," they don't appear to have the same level of "victimization" as does a music artist. In fact, they may actually benefit from mass-distribution of their work via piracy as it broadens their popularity and, in return, reinforces more bookings. While this isn't true for performer-led website productions, it could be true for their DVD releases.

[Link]

As for your suggested benefit to the performer, I have my doubts about that as well. Producers hire performers because they believe those performers will generate sales. Since your slavering fanboys are ripping product instead of buying it, their interest has a negative impact on sales, thus devaluing the performers, QED.

[Link]

GEMA

[Link]

Dedicated fans of whatever (whether they're fans of a particular music artist or movie director) are going to want to support the people who make the stuff they like.

Those who are just casually interested in said product may rip it off a file sharing network but what are the chances that they'd actually buy it if they didn't have that alternative?

Just to make what I'm saying clear, I listen to a lot of music casually on the radio. However, I buy very few CDs. It's just not worth enough to me that I would actually go out and buy it. If I bought, say, a Phil Collins CD, I'd be more or less wasting my money because it would very likely simply sit around and collect dust. I'm just not a big Phil Collins fan. Nevertheless, I like some of his stuff and will listen to it if it comes on the radio.

On the other hand, I'm a pretty big fan of some Hollywood movies. I like some of them enough that I want to own them. I wouldn't even want a pirated copy because to me, part of what makes ownership of the product special is that it's very high quality, professionally made, packaged and by purchasing it, I'm telling the people who made it that I want more and supporting them. A pirated copy of a Hollywood movie just wouldn't be the same to me....even if the quality was virtually indistinguishable.

So....how many of these people are just grabbing it because they can (because it's there) but wouldn't buy it anyway? If they don't care enough to want an official, professionally made product, are they really that big of a potential income source?

My interest in porn is more than casual but less than fanatic. I don't collect porn the same way I do Hollywood movies or CDs of my favorite artists. I don't buy every DVD from my favorite director or studio. 90% of the time, I rent. If a particular adult movie is just mind blowing, I'll probably buy it.

If I was less interested in it and only watched a movie every now and then, I wouldn't be a significant dollar figure anyway. That's what I figure a lot of these people are. And the rest of them are probably people who couldn't afford to buy or rent so I'm not sure they're a significant loss either.

I'm not saying it's right. It's definitely not legal. I don't exactly like it. I'm just not sure a lot of these people are causing significant damage. I'm sure it has something to do with falling sales but there could be other factors as well. A lot of porn just isn't as good as it used to be. There's a lot of stuff out there that, frankly, just isn't worth what it costs to buy it (that's why I rent). People may also be copying DVDs (Unlike VHS, a DVD copy can be pretty damn close to the original in quality) that they bought and sharing them with their offline friends. There's also a significant used DVD market. You can often buy a used copy of a movie in very good to excellent condition for a fraction of the price of a new copy. And the internet makes it much easier to find a used copy to buy than it's ever been before. These things no doubt contribute to sales that aren't quite what they once were.

Anyway....I figure that there will always be dedicated fanatical fans of porn who will buy everything they can afford. I don't think these people are involved in piracy at all.

Just my thoughts.

[Link]

In fact, I'm of the belief that the over-saturation of inferior productions by way too many companies has hurt sales tremendously.

I further believe that organized professional piracy and selling of illegal bootleg DVDs is the single largest factor in falling sales.
In Central Florida, where I live, I believe the sale of bootlegs in bricks & mortar XXX retailers is epidemic.
When VHS was still the dominant media (when I was renting VHS tapes in local stroke shops... before the advent of the DVD online rental services), I believe better than 50% of the VHS product were bootlegs (and obviously so).

If anything, DVDs have made it even easier for professional bootleg operations.

[Link]

I've seen a lot of porn that was fantastic. But I've seen more than my fair share of stuff where I'd be very upset if I'd actually bought it. Renting is my answer but some people don't have a local outlet that has all the selections they might want. I'm just lucky that I have a number of pretty well-stocked stores within a reasonable driving distance.

When sales are falling, there *have* to be reasons. It's easy to blame pirates and I'm not saying they aren't partially responsible but BigBobxxx has a very good point here. How many people are just frustrated with an inferior product?

If I buy something from a particular company and I don't like it, I don't buy from them again. I *might* give them one or two more chances but that's generally it.

If certain studios just keep churning out stuff that's barely watchable, only the diehards are going to keep buying.

[Link]

My computer is filled with hours and hours of videos that I downloaded legitimately from paysites, but have never gotten around to actually watching. I was just downloading them while I had a membership so that I would have them for a rainy day later. I think the same can be very true for illegal downloads. People download them when they find them to view later, and then they forget about them until they realize their hard drive is getting very full. That doesn't make it right, I do realize.

[Link]

Second- porn producers are paid by distributors. If a porn movie is good (think Evil Angel quality) then there is no need to worry about piracy. Nobody is going to pirate a Buttman video. They're going to buy it. Comprende?

Edited by - kirby on 1/24/2007 3:29:47 PM

[Link]

A lot of people who aren't really into porn are actually embarrassed to be in such places. They may check it out on the internet and might even buy something but it's not the same. You have to wait for shipping.

I still feel that falling quality might be a significant factor to falling sales and even piracy. True porn fanatics won't hesitate to spend money on porn if they can actually afford it and know it's good stuff. They'll definitely think twice if they think the quality might not be up to snuff or they just don't know what to expect, however. A lot of people don't have $20-$40 (and up) to risk on an uncertainty.

[Link]

Tower Records went down :( wonder if this has to do with Pirating? Lots of jobs lost and it was a cool place to shop. Never more
Yani Z

[Link]

Edited by - kirby on 1/24/2007 4:17:33 PM

[Link]

Furthermore, it seems logical that pirates are stealing the good stuff, so it isn't like they're doing us a favor by winnowing out the shoddy producers. In fact, they are more likely to weaken the good companies, so if quality is your concern you should be up in arms about it.

Finally, I'm not sure that the industry is experiencing falling sales. A glut in production may be making it harder for individual houses to make the numbers they used to, but that doesn't indicate an overall decline in the market.

PS - Impulse buying doesn't mean people enter porn shops, either brick & mortar or online, impulsively. It means that the decision to purchase a specific title is impulsive, eg, they didn't enter the store intending to buy that title. Just like I may go down to Blockbusters intending to rent a movie and come back with two, instead.

[Link]