French cinephiles are illegally downloading from the Internet as many films as they pay to see in theaters. This according to a new study from the Association Against Audiovisual Piracy (ALPA) that was–My God, THE IRONY–itself leaked to the Internet without its creator’s knowledge or consent. One of the largest studies of its kind, the ALPA effort found that 13.5 million films were illegally downloaded in May, while box office ticket sales for that month were 12.2 million. On average, more than 10 million copies of films are illegally downloaded in France every month. Some 450,000 copies are downloaded daily. Incroyable, but true. “We are facing a major phenomenon that can endanger the film industry and (other) audiovisual industries,” ALPA director Frederic Delacroix told Agence France-Presse. “We did not expect such numbers.”
Posted at 9:32 AM PT
Sphere
Tagged: ALPA, Amazon Unbox, Association Against Audiovisual Piracy, Digital Daily, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, France, Frederic Delacroix, Internet, John Paczkowski, box office, cinephile, download, film | permalink
Hollywood is finally embracing day-and-date film releases.
Yesterday, Time Warner (TWX) CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said that Warner Bros. plans to experiment with VOD releases day-and-date with DVD later this year. And now this morning, Apple (AAPL) announced that a number of major and independent movie studios have agreed to make their films available on iTunes day-and-date with DVD–$9.99 for library title purchases and $14.99 for new release purchases. Among the studios participating in the deal: 20th Century Fox (NWS), Walt Disney Studios (DIS), Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures (VIA), Universal Studios Home Entertainment (GE), Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE), Lionsgate (LGF), Image Entertainment (DISK) and First Look Studios (FRST.PK).
An impressive lineup and one that clearly heralds a shift in the movie industry’s view of digital distribution. A shift in iTunes movie purchases as well–upward. The removal of Hollywood’s typical 30-day lead time on DVD releases will no doubt boost new-release sales on iTunes, assuming customers don’t mind paying $14.99 for films that lack the extra features and picture quality of their DVD counterparts. It will boost movie studio revenues as well. With no manufacturing and reproduction costs to speak of, margins from day-and-date download releases are presumably quite high.
So much for that hard-fought DVD format war …
Posted at 12:00 AM PT
Sphere
Tagged: 20th Century Fox, Apple, DVD, Digital Daily, First Look Studios, Image Entertainment, John Paczkowski, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Time Warner, Universal Studios, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., day-and-date, digital, distribution, film, iTunes, release, sales | permalink
