Will Hollywood be the Next Bailout Candidate?
Written by Ben Jones on December 23, 2008The banking industry has received billions of dollars recently and the US auto industry had its share as well. Both have a history of bad decision making, with the auto industry in the US resisting advances in technology. The music and movie industries have also made bad decisions, and rejected technology, so it has to be asked – are they next in line with the begging bowl?
The banking collapse of recent weeks has brought many questions to people’s minds. How can an industry with no apparent self control or desire to self-regulate, lose billions in an orgy of greed and opulence, making bad decision after terrible decision with no consequences? The lessons of the late 1920’s seem not to have been heeded.
The American auto industry has appeared similarly insular. Year after year it has churned out large and poorly performing vehicles, aspiring only to the style de-jour. Heavy cars that are cheaply constructed in many cases, and with poor performance in comparison to similar vehicles from foreign car companies. If all else failed, there was the inevitable appeal to ego, pointing out that American cars and trucks are bigger than the competition, with an attitude of ‘bigger is better’. However, their refusal to adopt modern technology has created vehicles that handle poorly, and are more prone to breakdowns. US Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY 5th) understands this well, he’s had problems with his Caddy, while his wife’s non-US car has had better service.
Both industries have been before the US congress, asking for help because of their poor financial status. The questions people are asking now are: Who is next to beg for a billion dollar bailout? Ackerman also acknowledged this, saying “Somebody heard that we’re giving out free money in Washington. They’re showing up from all over the place.” What industry has ruined itself by excessive greed and refusal to adopt new technologies? Could it be Hollywood, or perhaps the music labels?
The excesses of the movie industry are well known. Brad Pitt and others regularly command eight-figure fees, which quickly add up. There seems to be an increasing reliance on special effects and big names to carry films, rather than writing and acting talent. While this might increase the short-term draw at the box office, it is more than countered by a loss in repeated watchability, which cuts into later profits. A big name in a bad film is still going to be a bad film (BattleField Earth or Gigli), while an unknown in a good film, will be a good film, if the acting and production is up to it.
Of course, bad decision making is only part of the problem. Resistance to changing technology is another. The film industry famously resisted the VCR, claiming it would devastate their industry. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, where they narrowly affirmed the legality of home recording. Today, despite their resistance, the majority of income from a film is from pre-recorded content which is played on similar machines.
The music industry has also resisted technology, opposing innovations such as player-pianos, through commercial radio and file-sharing technology. Between discs infested with DRM, through stage-managed raids with convenient media coverage, to suing and threatening to sue ten-of-thousands of their best customers, they’ve shown not only their dislike of technology, but also bad decision-making.
Meanwhile, both the music and movie industry have been pleading poverty and blaming piracy. The infamous LEK study where piracy was blamed for everything was nothing more than a subtle attempt to quantify a theoretical loss. With no science or methodology behind it, it’s hard to take it seriously, but some congressional members have done just that. Now, as well as trying to push draconian anti-consumer legislation through congress, it could work to their advantage if they were to go cap-in-hand to politicians and say “we’re really hurting, and we could really do with some financial help.”
But will this happen? Just a year or two ago, some said that it seemed unlikely that the financial industry would take this path, so the film and music industries following this same road should come as no surprise. The trail has been blazed by others, and now they may find themselves following the advice of Dire Straits.
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Previously: PSP Piracy is Trending Up, Despite Sony’s Claims
Next: Top 10 Most Pirated TV-Shows of 2008
46 Responses
May be the next candidates be moon, earth and other planets of solar system ;-)
Fuck Hollywood……..where the fuck is ThePiratebay.
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hopefully they got raided again.
working here for me but is a little slow to load
The incredible American entertainment industry—movies, books, music and games—has been for decades and easily remains the greatest cultural influence and the financial envy of the rest of the world. Anyone who thinks that government and industry working together on a network THEY CREATED and BRING TO US will allow cheap-ass pilfering pirates—no matter how well organized—to bring the industry down and sacrifice all that influence and tax revenue……….is a freetard.
You people are so busy taking stuff for free you can't even think out past the next illegal download.
what for giving bailout to hollywood ? so that the rich actor and actress can continue their wealthy life style ?
No, and I hope not…I would much rather give money to people that NEED it such as the poor and starving as opposed to people that WANT it such as hollywood scum that spend money on coke and other drugs…
I doubt it. The car and financial industry are vital to the health of America. Sure watching movies is nice, but it isn't a necessity. Life will go on without it. Now Hollywood might try asking for them, but they won't succeed.
LET THEM BURN
Works fine for me. It might be your ISP
Joking or trolling?
If Hollywood will go bankcrupt, less entertainment for america. Less earnings. How about the world will set an organization that would lead the whole world. One law for everyone. To balance our production lines.
Correction: if Hollywood goes bankrupt, they deserve to go bankrupt.
“the style de-jour” you mean style du jour,
the currently fashionable style.
Never use foreign phrases in writing if you
can’t use them correctly.
CLEAN OUT THE PIRACY CRIMINALS
With films like the dark knight being one of the most sucessful films ever i dont think hollywood is doing too badly at the moment. But as far as bailing out hollywood goes that is one of the most ridiculous ideas i've heard of in a long time. The industry still lags itself back with an outdated business model and pays its stars, producers and directors ridiculous figures of money.
They don't deserve one penny. Theyve been ripping off the public for years with the same old crap. CGI and (insert "celebrity" here) doesn't make a good film. Try watching some indy cinema and you'll be surprised at just how good some of it really is.
I think that it is more than likely, that the corruption of the art through avarice and the concentration on making money, even if what they do is not so great, of the MAFIAA &c. is more than likely affecting what they do. After all, one could hardly call most of what they create "art," especially when they are primarily concerned about profits, rather than about the actual worth of the movie. Given the fact that they spend so much amongst the MAFIAA for the policing of the usage of "their" ideas and thoughts through copyright, it should not be too surprising that their movies are not-so-good.
"Cheap ass" is exactly the right term to describe the MAFIAA. Moreover, the U.S. is a democratic nation, and when the business interest goes against the common good, the common good has the chance to prevail. Also, the industry ought to be brought down, and everyone ought to boycott the industry.
By the way, your praise of the "incredible culture" (not a culture really) and the idea that influence/tax revenue and industry cannot and should not ever be brought down sounds awfully like something the tobacco industry would say. The fact that you are an industry advocate, most likely hired, is clear already, since many of the things you said, including the idea that the entertainment industry is "incredible" are only things that industry advocates would say. Nice inventing a retarded phrase like "freetard" and disguising the fact that you are the same person as "freetard." Now that you have made it obvious that you are a MAFIAA-hired advocate, you can go and get another job.
The only way to oppose this is through the popular will. In a democratic government, no business can ever trump the will of the people. Now, I know that some people here think that there is a massive conspiracy between lobbyists and the government, and that somehow the lobbyists have so much power, that they can dictate the policies of government. That is completely untrue. The United States is a democratic nation, and to dismiss the issue as "beyond our control" is essentially what the MAFIAA wants.
It is as clear as day that copyright does not need to be imposed on non-commercial uses. They could get by fine, through commercial uses: they would get much more profit if, instead of relying on non-commercial uses, they use commercial usages (like theatres, and other things), as long as they get a percentage of the profits. To impose copyright on non-commercial usages is to claim ownership of ideas and thoughts for private usages, and to enforce it is thus tantamount to thought police. Well, it is no surprise that they have been trying to turn the internet into a police state through three-strikes, harsher penalties, a copyright tsar, and so on. Copyright law has gone even more insane, even though it was already crazy in the first place. Some parts of copyright are still necessary, like preventing plagiarism (a kind of fraud), and reserving profits from commercial usages of the idea/thought for the copyright holder of the idea/thought; the only part that is necessary is to require all profit-makers who use the idea/thought for a profit to pay a percentage of their profits to the copyright holder (but to allow anyone to make a profit, so long as they pay the royalty), and perhaps plagiarism can be handled by a separate law. However, the rest is just taking away the freedom of speech and the freedom of thought.
The fact is that there is no inherent right to make money. When a business loses money, it is not the fault of other people for failing to pay them and buy their products. Rather, it is their own fault for bad business practices (such as failing to create good movies). The idea that they should just be given money because they are a business is just ridiculous.
I resent the remarks about the auto industry. I am closely tied to the auto industry, GM more specifically and its been several years since GM has made "crap" as you would seem to insinuate. GM has worked very hard to change their poor image of the last 15 years or so. Maybe you should get out of your Honda and try Chevy for a change.
I love TorrentFreak to death for how it keeps me up to date in the pirating world, but this article is terrible. Where are you getting your information that Hollywood or the music industry is asking for money? Then Mr. Jones goes on to fabricate a whole "what if" scenario around it. This article is most disappointing piece of work I have ever seen from TF.
This article pushes TF from a decent and credible news source with a slant towards pirates, to a completely biased, one-sided misinformant.
Disappointing and unacceptable :(
No bailout for anyone!
You forget that the title of the article is a question, not a statement. Notice the question mark, "?" at the end.
The intent of the piece was to discuss similarities between two industries that have already requested bailouts, and some that have not. I'm not the only one to have speculated either, as I've seen other people ponder it.
Let us not forget, like the car industries, the MPAA/RIAA and their members have been talking for a few years now, about the billions they're losing. In recent statements they have also talked about how they employ (directly or indirectly) a large percentage of people, how its a major trade export, and that it is a flagship industry for the nation. With all this, can you not see how they might consider getting what is a 'cheap loan' by leaning on these 'credentials' and pointing to the other industries that have been 'saved' through millions in tax dollars.
Sometimes I like to report the news, which you clearly like, but on occasion I, and others at TorrentFreak, also like to try and encourage thought. This was an attempt at the latter.
We have all read the stories of parents sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars because their teenage children file swapped music over the internet. In many cases, the parents were bullied into settlement, even though they may not have been guilty of anything. Over 35,000 individuals were sued for sharing music in violation of copyright law. The government should have ended this travesty a long time ago, but our political leaders are in the RIAA's pocket for campaign donations. This list includes Barack Obama. I wish I could tell you the RIAA had come to their senses and realized the unfairness of what they were doing, but I can't. They are stopping because it isn't profitable any more.
http://bloggingredneck.blogspot.com/
I think that it is more than likely, that the corruption of the art through avarice and the concentration on making money, even if what they do is not so great, of the MAFIAA &c. is more than likely affecting what they do. After all, one could hardly call most of what they create "art," especially when they are primarily concerned about profits. Given the fact that they spend so much amongst the MAFIAA for the policing of the usage of "their" ideas and thoughts through copyright, it should not be too surprising that their movies are not-so-good.
The only reason this travesty is not ending is the lack of the popular will. No matter how much "campaign donations" or other money the MAFIAA gives, it cannot override the will of the people in a democratic nation like the United States. People ought to be more aware of this issue, and its importance, because the fact is that that every day, the MAFIAA is getting closer and closer to the realization of their dream: a MAFIAA Gestapo. After all, copyright is the "ownership" of ideas and thoughts, and thus the "right" to control such ideas and thoughts, which is tantamount to thought police – and thus to turn the internet into a police state is exactly what they want, which they are getting closer and closer to, every day in which the MAFIAA continues not being resisted.
There you go again retarded troll, pushing your employers social engineering again. Your employers at the mpaa/riaa didn't create or control the web,maybe in your wet dreams you wish they did but they don't.
Thanks for inspiring many more people that read here to share & not pay you & your employers for a copywrong law imposed on media. Soon the artists & consumers will be free of you capitalist pigs.
You should really go get a real job & also not comment on blogs were your narrow minded views are laughable =0)
influence and tax revenue hahahahahahahahahaha
my 2 cents for hollywood is, eat shit and die.
Pirate bay totally blow hard, move to private trackers and you'll never go back!!!!
My 2 cents hollywood makes shit so it should die…
Or the usa could give them 1000billion dollars to compensate all the money the damn pirates steal from their ships chests of goldz…
"Oh yes they can."
Sounds like an industry advocate saying "we are all powerful." Now, pay attention to what happened to the tobacco industry. The people are able to defeat you industry scum.
"Business interests would not spend large amounts of money on lobbyists if they recieved nothing in return at least some of the time."
But they are not all-powerful, if the popular will opposes them. It is a conspiracy theory to say that they are omnipotent.
"Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete."
The idea that copyright applies to anything "substantive and discrete" is laughable. Now, you industry scum, pay attention to this fact: copyright applies to something ABSTRACT and NOT CONCRETE and applies to MERE IDEAS. Thus, they are ideas and thoughts, and to police them is thought police. They want a MAFIAA Gestapo to do just that.
"Creating a bad movie is not a 'bad business practice'."
However, not caring about the movie is a bad business practice. The fact is that they were interested in making money rather than the worth of the movie itself. That is a bad business practice.
"And who decides what is 'good' in any case?"
Although it is subjective, something that is bad is simply just bad.
"One way is popular opinion, which means it makes a lot of money which is in opposition to your idea that 'money makes art bad'. "
Now, it is quite clear that you are a hired industry advocate. The fact is that even if it were popular opinion (which, in fact, is sometimes unreliable), it still entails that money makes art bad, since that is the popular opinion.
not helping you hollywood you shot yourself in the foot now its time for you to go
I agree totally. Hollywood shot themselves in their feet by not jumping on the digital download bandwagon a long time ago, without DRM. Now, they are whining that "We are dying!" when the reason that they are dying is because they have not adapted to the modern world by: lowering prices, offering more convenient ways to get their hardware, etc.
awww why not give them all the money they want, htey just give it to ubber rich and then the USA is more in debt for nothing, you get sued and then pay taxes that goto them as well HAHA what a loser country, and bunch a nit wits.
This is why obama got in right joe biden and the mpaa tie in?
And now we see the police state interent formed, YES the uSSa is now almost complete.
The nazi style that inbreds hollywood entertainment and htought control with the bushite military and corporate control.
YES we must take all the money now before the people see that ACTA is all about us getting as much as we can before they take back there lives and our alien brothers come and take over earth.
And, when the problem was first realized, the people who were making money from these were vehemently against reforming legislation to solve the problem, so that they could just continue making money. Although the government was the initial cause, the reason why the problem was not solved later was because of the pressure of those who were benefiting from it.
The French bailed out the steel and textile industry in the 70's; 10 years later the cost came to 70 billion, they could have started a new industry with those funds all because they refused to embrace technology, same thing happened to Leyland.
If we are to have a better industry some times you need a forest fire to allow the sun to penetrate the soil and there you get re-birth.
Ford where in trouble when we had a booming economy, if they prop up a failing industry the welfare effects will be devestating. New tech green cars are the way forward, as is a new and improved music and movie industry, based on realism.
The problem is the allure the labels have on the artists, the artists are not immune to Aston Martins, Country Houses, Don P, Caviar, Designer Clothes……….generally keeping up with the jonses. I know they have a image to portray but where are the Shawshank Redemptions, Godfathers, real films.
Know we have gone from PoP to talent contests (Simon Cowell), from Shawshank to comic book heros. The industry speaks for itself………..Boring!
If the industry was bought down you would have nothing to download because very few if any people are going to spend their own moneyto make films & TV to give away for nothing.
If America is not a culture why the hell are you always rambling about culture being downtrodden by money and this can be fixed by taking money out of the equation then?
Roze: "The only way to oppose this is through the popular will. In a democratic government, no business can ever trump the will of the people."
Oh yes they can. I dont live in the USA but it seems to me that when people are happy some of them choose not to vote and vice-versa". Basically at the moment it seems to me the vast majority of voters are not interested in copyright issues and hence wont vote on it.
"Now, I know that some people here think that there is a massive conspiracy between lobbyists and the government, and that somehow the lobbyists have so much power, that they can dictate the policies of government. That is completely untrue."
Once again your too black and white in your thinking. Business interests would not spend large amounts of money on lobbyists if they recieved nothing in return at least some of the time. It's hardly a conspiracy, it's a well-known and established procedure.
"To impose copyright on non-commercial usages is to claim ownership of ideas and thoughts for private usages, and to enforce it is thus tantamount to thought police"
No it does not. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete. A thought is not substantive in any fashion.
"Rather, it is their own fault for bad business practices (such as failing to create good movies)."
Creating a bad movie is not a "bad business practice". If there was a way to make every movie good don't you think that movie studios would be onto it? It is impossible to ensure that every work is "good" and hence and point not worth making in your arguement against copyright. And who decides what is "good" in any case? One way is popular opinion, which means it makes a lot of money which is in opposition to your idea that "money makes art bad".
"The idea that they should just be given money because they are a business is just ridiculous."
That isn't what's happening here.
"The banking collapse of recent weeks has brought many questions to people’s minds. How can an industry with no apparent self control or desire to self-regulate, lose billions in an orgy of greed and opulence, making bad decision after terrible decision with no consequences?"
Many commentators would disagree with that view entirely. Put extremely simply, in the early 1990s Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac were forced, via legislation no less, to provide loans to low income borrowers, so called sub-prime loans. These loans carried a high risk of the borrowers defaulting. Freddie and Fannie's boards both disagreed with the legislation due to the risk of default. These loans were then sold to other entities and spread throughout the world economy, people defaulted in large numbers and credit was thus harder to come by. The root cause of this current crisis is at the US governments feet.
The movements of markets is largely due to people's confidence and perception about what the future holds rather than inherent attributes of the companies within it.
Come on, does anybody really think hollywood needs a bailout? If they go and ask, it just means they are greedy bastards. If they make billios of dollars every year you really think they run out of money because people dont buy their crap for a while? If they cant survive with one billion less then let them burn.
Maybe they should try a few good ways to not lose so much money. Pay "actors" 10 million instead of 25. Even 10 million is way too much for little acting in some crappy movies… Make less movies, most of the shit they produce isn't even watchable. And last but not least, MAKE BETTER MOVIES.
I don't believe Hollywood would ever ask for a bailout anyway. Let's leave it to the bankers and automakers…
you know all those poor actors in NYC who will work for practically nothing?
i'm sure you could screen them and find some decent ones in there… ones that won't cost millions.
Maybe the industry could go kill themself. Look at steam and valve their doing great because they give a fuck about something. Giving a fuck isnt hard but most are to lazy and dum to think about it.
If the industry was brought down we would still have things to download – there is a system where people are making things that are not tied in with how you are seeing copyright. Creative Commons. That you think there wouldn't be any content is ridiculous, people will still write, people will still sing, people will still make movies. We do not need a distribution industry in this day and age where the distribution can be done for free.
Now you (who may be a hired industry advocate) are grasping at straws. It is downtrodden by money because it makes the culture non-existent. Also, the MAFIAA ought to be brought down so that they will change their ways, or go extinct. They are the dinosaurs, and they ought to go extinct.
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