Nichols | House

Who is the real Online Pirate, YOU or THE STUDIOS? This is a documentary about piracy made solely from pirated media.

Statement

Piracy effects every type of artist, creative professional, or anyone that does anything in our modern world. For artists though, piracy is the largest concern because we are in the profession of creating and piracy usually is a direct theft of our work. The studios like to claim that piracy simply hurts the “little guys” in Hollywood, but the truth is these studios are key pirates themselves of intellectual property. Not only are the studios stealing money from the creator’s, but also they are posting the material without the creator’s consent.

As a filmmaker it is extremely important for me to understand the effects and potentials of piracy, both good and bad, in this new growing online market. For that reason I decided to make a short documentary on the truths of internet piracy, made solely from pirated material, and intended for only for online viewing. All my life I have been a filmmaker but I have never completed a documentary of any sort, so it was the logical choice to explore making a documentary when I was also exploring an unknown world that would greatly effect my future.

At first the film was a pro-piracy creation though personally I had a few mixed feelings. Through creating and researching piracy, though, I found that the topic could not accurately be portrayed from one side of the argument. So I set out on a bipartisan creation. The film contradicted the MPAA’s ads against piracy, but it did so in a level way, illuminating the truths behind what we call piracy.

In the end I feel the film did create an interesting point without taking one particular side on whether piracy is good or bad. My film’s argument as well as creation process (from pirated material) showed how piracy can have its benefits, but it still is stealing. There are many other pirates besides the basement lurking video game playing teen guys.

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