Are we on IF indulging in Piracy?

Disclaimer: This is a topic created just for the sake of Debate. Lets share our views on this topic without taking anything personally... No offence to the Videobies and Coolbies of IF who are doing an awesome job in keeping us updated with the latest television news and soaps...

ARE WE INDULGING IN PIRACY?

Well... wanted to post this topic a long time back when I was working on my paper based on Software Piracy.... Alas... I lost my post to cyberspace😭😭 (As Mermaid would put it😳) ..... Now back to the topic...

Every evening... Once a show is over... we wait eagerly to log onto India Forums... Some are eager to update the rest abt what happened... while the others are eager to get the updates.... And then comes the moment all of us wait for... when our dear coolbies n videobies put up the video update and pictures of the day's episode... The videos are those recorded by us and then shared online for the benefit of our friends...

Now a little into the ground realities...

The Indian Film and Music industries incur heavy losses due to unauthorised copying of movies and music by pirates who sell this at a cheaper rate or share it online for free. People prefer not to pay up and watch the movies.... Besides this being a gross violation of copyright... it causes enormous monetary harm to the Industry....

The question is....

Is this doing any harm to the Television Channels who are the real copyright owners of the shows we record when aired and then share on online forums like IF or even p to p sites like Limewire and Youtube...

Lets look at the arguments from both the sides...

Sharing online videos on IF isnt really detrimental to TV channels because it is chiefly meant for those people who have missed shows... Its not an alternative means to watch a television channel without paying up😛.... So the basic viewership of the channel is not affected... television still remains the chief medium... In fact online sites arouse viewer interest in a few cases prompting the viewer to watch the show regularly on television... Moreover, the star plus or sony or zee logo is not removed from the shared video... Hence it is not that the source of the video is not being acknowledged.😉

On the other hand it can be argued that... Acknowledgment or not.... Private individuals have no right to record videos without authorisation from the copyright owner and then share it online... Because it is the channel which has the right to air videos... uploading videos on peer to peer networks like Limewire, Youtube, Badongo etc.. n then sharing the links online is piracy anyways...There might be some people who use the net as a regular means to access certain channels to which they have not subscribed... Look at me for instance... I never got zoom or Star News on my TV... Yet, I always relied on online forums for SBS n Popkorn... These channels have additional viewers who watch their channels without paying up... Had IF not existed... I'd have prolly pestered my Dad to get Zoom.. 😆😆... Tht means Zoom just lost a potential customer😕...Just shows channels can lose potential viewers due to online sharing of videos...

Now the Question is....... (Do pen/key ur thoughts)

ARE WE ON INDIA FORUMS ENCOURAGING PIRACY?? 😃

Or IS IT JUST FINE BECAUSE THE CHANNELS ARE NOT REALLY BEING HARMED (As of now...)??

Debate apart... The videobies and all those who share online pics and videos rock!! 🤗 I dunno where I'd have gone without them!!...

Slippery topic Ria 😳, but since I read it, I will try to tip toe and reply!
I see your point about piracy, but another way to look at it is what better advertisement of the shows than this? Viewers get hooked on to the show and then get a subscription when they are tired of the 3 by 3 screen?
ABC airs all its hit shows online the next day. If they don't think their viewership is lost, we have not to worry. Most NRIs hang on to the video clips w/o subscription, but I am sure we are minority 😳.

EXCELLENT TOPIC Ria.... Worth discussing in Dev Team.... 👏

There are no laws strong enough to keep entertainment piracy under check in the world of open internet

The advent of youtube has proved it, many a entertainment powerhouses have realized it, hence they opened up their own websites with the thought, if you cant beat them join them, with this the entertainment company can generate revenue and target the internet audience

As to the question in the topic, the answer most probably is YES

piracy has only meaning within a accepted definition domain... T-series revamped so many indian classics... nobody screamed piracy then...they violated copy-right laws... all the piracy business is started in the US - by resorting to extreme fairness procedures..... and stealing thoughts and concepts from the lesser nations wouldnt be considered piracy. for eg.. stealing yoga and making piloga out of it would be considered innovation possibly... Even the song happy birthday to you... is copy-righted.... how many care to pay.. So piracy has a veri narrow definition.... so has to interpreted on case by case basis... I dont think IF would be considered a clear case of piracy... unless we have strict definitions of the same...

Just a note:

The TV channels and stars do know about IF and that videos of televised episodes are aired here. In fact they are using IF to penetrate overseas markets where one cannot easily subscribe to these channels.

The question is: Is it truly piracy if it is not regulated by the channel itself?

Originally posted by: T.

Just a note:

The TV channels and stars do know about IF and that videos of televised episodes are aired here. In fact they are using IF to penetrate overseas markets where one cannot easily subscribe to these channels.

The question is: Is it truly piracy if it is not regulated by the channel itself?

That may not be a valid argument.. Its like the restaurant owner is responsible for somebody carrying gun into his restaurant.. Or people using cable to download stuff illegally makes the cable owner responsible for lack of enforcement...

Having said that if Mods become the police of propriety and morality and proper conduct which by itself is debatable in several cases then they should also police the obvious offences of pirated material coming on its site..😊

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

That may not be a valid argument.. Its like the restaurant owner is responsible for somebody carrying gun into his restaurant.. Or people using cable to download stuff illegally makes the cable owner responsible for lack of enforcement...

Having said that if Mods become the police of propriety and morality and proper conduct which by itself is debatable in several cases then they should also police the obvious offences of pirated material coming on its site..😊

These allusions are also not valid.

A cable owner or the restauranteur is not in regular contact with the illegal downloaders or the gunman.

The channels are in regular contact with IF and its Moderating Team. They have not asked IF to stop the videos till date.

Originally posted by: T.

These allusions are also not valid.

A cable owner or the restauranteur is not in regular contact with the illegal downloaders or the gunman.

The channels are in regular contact with IF and its Moderating Team. They have not asked IF to stop the videos till date.

oh ok you r right .. i interpreted channels for IF...but again channels follow the laws about piracy I believe...

I was going to say...what a sticky topic for debate and realized...well it is literally a "sticky" topic on this forum... 😆

My $0.02..

Does this forum reserve the rights to air these episodes? Merely stating that the channels have been in touch with IF does not imply tacit concurrence. At best it implies "turning a blind eye". Does a lull today not point to a brewing storm in future? Debatable!! Does the entertainment industry not reserve rights to sue IF for illegally making the videcopies available to general public? In absence of any clear covenant between IF and the channels w.r.t the intellectual property rights, there is always a possibility that guillotine may fall somebody.

Sorry.... but I am being devil's advocate here. On the flip side...every home (well...practically) have a recording media ranging from VCRs to latest and greatest DVRs and TIVOs etc. Who is to stop them? Channels probably realize that banning IF from airing the recording is not the solution as it will not stop the home piracy. So they would rather leave such forums as IF alone as it only provides them further exposure to unexplored markets. Probably one of the reasons, why IF has stayed unscathed thus far.