Tuesday, 22 August 2017 08:00 AM
Company Update
SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 22, 2017 / Content is king. More specifically, unique content. That is the mantra of every type of entertainment company and media provider today. That's why business moves like Walt Disney deciding to pull its content from Netflix in 2019 in favor of launching its own streaming service and Netflix poaching Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes away from Disney's ABC Studios are in the headlines. The ongoing - and intensifying - war over content to lure viewers isn't going anywhere and it further puts a spotlight on the importance of copyright protection in a world where piracy abounds.
While many may gloss over piracy as irrelevant, the problem runs much deeper than just a superficial act of sharing a copyrighting song, movie, programs, etc. Piracy has a cascading effect, delivering blows to the economy, business and creativity.
Putting a true dollar figure on content piracy is nearly impossible. However, according to the Recording Industry Association of America website, the U.S. economy loses 71,060 jobs and suffers $12.5 billion in total output each year because of music theft. Furthermore, music piracy takes at least $422 million in taxes from government coffers. In a 2006 publication, the Institute for Policy Innovation, a Texas-based think tank, estimated movie piracy to cost the U.S. economy $20.5 billion annually. According to Rightscorp, an anti-piracy provider of data and analytic services to support artists and owners of copyrighted intellectual property, pirated software had a commercial value of $59 billion in 2010.
Start adding in the billions of dollars in costs related to bootlegging video games, images, books and television shows and there's no denying the serious economic impact.
As noted in an article on TheHill.com authored by John Singleton, the film director, screenwriter and producer who earned fame with his film "Boyz n the Hood," the downstream impact is substantial, resulting in more risk-off business strategies of entertainment companies and stifling channels for talent to be showcased and monetized.
Against this backdrop, the importance of firms like Rightscorp (RIHT) are amplified. The Santa Monica, California-based company fights piracy by deploying its software through Internet Service Providers (ISP) to monitor global Peer-to-Peer file sharing networks to prevent illegal downloading of digital media. Rightscorp customers include industry leading film, television, music, publishing, gaming and software companies like Warner Bros., BMG Rights Management, The Bicycle Music Company and Shapiro Bernstein.
Constantly monitoring internet sharing sites for impropriety, Rightscorp sends a violator a notice upon executing an illegal download of copyrighted material, offering a nominal settlement compared to the minimum statutory penalties of $750 and up to $150,000 per infringement, not to mention potential litigation expenses.
Judges are striking their gavels in favor copyright protection. BMG Rights Management took a new approach to reign in piracy in 2014 in suing ISP giant Cox Communications for allowing pirating of nearly 1,400 of BMG's songs on their network, rather than trying to go directly after the infringer. The courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of BMG in the case, including a $25 million ruling for BMG in 2015 (that was upheld in 2016 after Cox's appeal) and another $8.3 million in legal fees awarded to BMG in February.
Elsewhere,, a federal judge on Thursday refused to drop the indictment against alleged KickAssTorrents.com founder Artem Vaulin, who is currently serving jail time in Poland related to U.S. authorities charging him last year for running the P2P sharing website. It is alleged that Vaulin's site distributed more than $1 billion in content illegally.
That said, Rightscorp advocates for ISPs to be held responsible for enabling pirating activity, a sweet spot for their business model. Last month, the company applauded the Southern African Federation Against Copyright Theft for warning ISPs that they now must block access to pirated sites or be held liable for subsequent legal action. "Piracy, of course, is a worldwide epidemic and this recent news from South Africa reinforces the idea that efforts to reduce piracy should start with the ISPs," commented Rightscorp President Christopher Sabec upon news of the South African mandate.
Speaking to the topic of the reported hacking of HBO and swiping of Game of Thrones content this month, Rightscorp CEO Cecil Bond Kyte noted that "a key to safeguarding digital assets is to hold ISPs accountable to enforce policies to terminate the accounts of subscribers who repeatedly infringe copyrights."
Given how prevalent hacks are becoming and the fact that piracy is running as rampant as ever globally, it looks like the narrative is starting to be changed with respect to punishment, effectively going after different links in the chain. With all the measureable and immeasurable negative effects, continuing to do things the same way obviously isn't working. A fresh approach with global support is one way to try and cut the monster off at its head in order to take back all that piracy is costing.
Online Media Group, Inc. is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and holds no investment licenses and does not provide, nor claims to provide, investment advice. We are a publisher of original and third party news and information. This article is sponsored content and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. The views expressed are our own and not intended to be the basis for any investment decision. Investing intrinsically involves substantial risk and readers are reminded to consult an investment professional and complete their own due diligence, including SEC filings, when researching any companies mentioned in this release. This release is based upon publicly available information and, while vetted, is not considered to be all-inclusive or guaranteed to be free from errors. With respect to Section 17(B) of the Securities Act of 1933 and in the interest of full disclosure, we call the reader's attention to the fact that Online Media Group, Inc. received $1,333 in compensation by IRTH Communications for content creation, advertising and distribution services related to this material.
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SOURCE: IRTH