James Cameron: Theater Experience Could Contain Piracy

Why do people pirate movies, software, games, music, books, and so on? The basic answer is that if you can get it for free, why pay for it? So does that mean that there is no hope at eradicating piracy? We suppose to eliminate it entirely is impossible, but in terms of containing it, director James Cameron believes the theater experience is the key.

Speaking to Variety (via Torrent Freak), Cameron touched on several subjects, one of which was related to piracy, in which he stated that the theater experience could be the key to containing piracy, at least as far as movies are concerned. “The biggest hedge against piracy is still the sanctity of the viewing experience in a movie theater — when it comes to movies.”

He adds, “With ‘The Walking Dead’ or something like that, that’s not what you’re selling, but if we’re talking about movies and theatrical exhibition, keeping it great, making it a special experience, is still the biggest hedge against [piracy].” We suppose Cameron does make a good point.

For example movies like Avatar are almost impossible to recreate with a home theater system, so giving moviegoers a reason to pay for a ticket could help curb piracy. “Just collectively the industry needs to know if we fail at creating a premium immersive experience in the theater, then the Napster-like downloading phenomenon will destroy the industry.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Movies, Piracy