Because companies are reactionary structures of power, they often act out of fear of losing control, not out of data or reason. It's easier to lobby governments for harsher copyright laws instead of modernising business model.
There are many counter-examples.
Gabe Newell (Valve co-founder) famously said:
"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
Jeff Bewkes (CEO of Time Warner) famous quote about piracy:
"Game of Thrones being the most pirated show in the world? That's better than an Emmy."
Radiohead released their In Rainbows album as "pay what you want", directly online. It generated more revenue than their previous label-backed album.
I don't think this is true. Many video game companies pay for DRM protection only for the first few months to a year, then remove it after most of the sales are generated. And before the current mostly uncrackable DRMs came out (denuvo) they would still use DRM that they knew would be cracked eventually as long as it wouldn't be cracked in the first few months. They are not simply blindly acting out of fear, they are estimating the actual cost of piracy. In fact someone recently did an analysis of this and came that conclusion.[0] The companies likely have much better data than this external researcher.
>"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
It is true that how good the service is is an important factor and can be more important than lets say a $10 difference in price. I think that is what is meant by this quote. However if piracy was easy and legal much fewer people pay for it. Assuming that "piracy is a service problem not a pricing problem" if anything would prove that there are a significant number of people who pay for something if it is easier than pirating. Usually people that claim that anti-piracy measures have no effect say something like "people that can afford to pay for a given media will always pay for it, and people that cannot will always not" or "people who are going to pirate something will never pay for it even if it becomes impossible to pirate." But if pricing is not actually the main issue at hand here then this not correct.
>"Game of Thrones being the most pirated show in the world? That's better than an Emmy."
This doesn't say anything about income generated. He's basically remarking about how successful the show was.
>Radiohead
This is a special case where consumers have a special attachment to the producers of their entertainment and buy their products specifically to support them. You can see a similar idea with YouTubers that sell everyday items (eg. coffee) with their name on it and people buy it mainly to support them, and this is even how the sales pitch is phrased. So if you are (at least partially) selling the ability to support the creator, then it is impossible to pirate that, as piracy (obviously) does not support the creator.
>act out of fear of losing control
Even after now 20 years of digital media existing?
It's hard to convince people of X, if their earnings depend on them not agreeing.
Management and lawyers are paid to be busy and "defend rights", not on sitting still and saying that nothing should be done. Even if it true, they still need look busy and "earn their check", otherwise their numbers/salaries can be reduced.
Because those studies aren't actual proof, and companies selling things are biased to believe that people won't pay for shit if they don't have to. (Which they won't.)
Because companies are reactionary structures of power, they often act out of fear of losing control, not out of data or reason. It's easier to lobby governments for harsher copyright laws instead of modernising business model.
There are many counter-examples.
Gabe Newell (Valve co-founder) famously said:
"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
Jeff Bewkes (CEO of Time Warner) famous quote about piracy:
"Game of Thrones being the most pirated show in the world? That's better than an Emmy."
Radiohead released their In Rainbows album as "pay what you want", directly online. It generated more revenue than their previous label-backed album.
I don't think this is true. Many video game companies pay for DRM protection only for the first few months to a year, then remove it after most of the sales are generated. And before the current mostly uncrackable DRMs came out (denuvo) they would still use DRM that they knew would be cracked eventually as long as it wouldn't be cracked in the first few months. They are not simply blindly acting out of fear, they are estimating the actual cost of piracy. In fact someone recently did an analysis of this and came that conclusion.[0] The companies likely have much better data than this external researcher.
>"Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."
It is true that how good the service is is an important factor and can be more important than lets say a $10 difference in price. I think that is what is meant by this quote. However if piracy was easy and legal much fewer people pay for it. Assuming that "piracy is a service problem not a pricing problem" if anything would prove that there are a significant number of people who pay for something if it is easier than pirating. Usually people that claim that anti-piracy measures have no effect say something like "people that can afford to pay for a given media will always pay for it, and people that cannot will always not" or "people who are going to pirate something will never pay for it even if it becomes impossible to pirate." But if pricing is not actually the main issue at hand here then this not correct.
>"Game of Thrones being the most pirated show in the world? That's better than an Emmy."
This doesn't say anything about income generated. He's basically remarking about how successful the show was.
>Radiohead
This is a special case where consumers have a special attachment to the producers of their entertainment and buy their products specifically to support them. You can see a similar idea with YouTubers that sell everyday items (eg. coffee) with their name on it and people buy it mainly to support them, and this is even how the sales pitch is phrased. So if you are (at least partially) selling the ability to support the creator, then it is impossible to pirate that, as piracy (obviously) does not support the creator.
>act out of fear of losing control
Even after now 20 years of digital media existing?
[0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S18759...
Hell I have a premium Netflix and premium Spotify account that I don't even use very often.
Gabe Newell was right. I subscribed to those on my phone without having to go out of the house. It was just a few touches.
It's hard to convince people of X, if their earnings depend on them not agreeing.
Management and lawyers are paid to be busy and "defend rights", not on sitting still and saying that nothing should be done. Even if it true, they still need look busy and "earn their check", otherwise their numbers/salaries can be reduced.
The opinions of their principals may not align with published findings, for many reasons.
Because those studies aren't actual proof, and companies selling things are biased to believe that people won't pay for shit if they don't have to. (Which they won't.)