Pluralistic: “If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing” (08 Dec 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net

The ability to change features, prices, and availability of things you’ve already paid for is a powerful temptation to corporations.

  • greedytacothief@lemmy.worldEnglish
    181·
    2 years ago

    I think piracy is copyright infringement. But like who cares if some big corpos get infringed upon by some dudes.

    • gila@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      I think a compromise on copyright could be a good middle ground in future. In the same way that I’m happy to wait for a game to go on sale before I buy and play it, I’d be happy to wait until a movie or series enters the public domain so I can consume it without paying. Obviously not for hundreds of years, or 56 years. But if Netflix/HBO etc shows and movies became free to watch after 6-7 years, most piracy traffic could be easily captured by legal platforms that are more convenient and accessible to more viewers. I struggle to see how it would not further relegate piracy to a niche activity done by very few, or be bad for the content producers in any significant way

    • Zoolander@lemmy.worldEnglish
      312·
      2 years ago

      What about non-corpos and small companies that make the stuff being pirated? Is that still a “who cares” situation?

      • schmidtster@lemmy.worldEnglish
        62·
        2 years ago

        You means the ones that endorse piracy because it helps sales instead cannibalize them? The people that abuse the system are outnumbered by the ones that treat it as a trial period.

        • Patches@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          43·
          2 years ago

          Until anyone can pull actual data 'the trial period ’ I can’t help but think it’s an absolute crock of shit.

          Not that it matters. You don’t lose a sale by piracy. You were never going to get that sale for a multitude of reasons.

          • schmidtster@lemmy.worldEnglish
            32·
            2 years ago

            You would be in the minority, piracy can increase sales because a lot of people see the value after the trial period and pay for it.

            Linky for source of one company.

            • Patches@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              21·
              2 years ago

              That article you linked notes that this is one dev who made a dubious claim.

              “When you see a percent but not a number, it is because the number isn’t strong”. Aka going from 1 sales to 4 sales is a 400% increase and yet extremely unimpressive.

              • schmidtster@lemmy.worldEnglish
                12·
                2 years ago

                Why are you sensationalizing the quote?

                Actual text below

                “With only 10 reviews on Steam, saying a 400% sales increase is an eye-catcher for sure but not necessarily as huge a financial payoff in context as that percent shouts at us,” he explained. “Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but Steam reviews usually hover around roughly 2% to 5% of copies sold, so if we go off of 5% and it has 10 reviews, that’s around 200 copies sold. If a 400% increase occurred, then they’ve now sold close to 1,000 copies. That’s really awesome for an indie dev; a few thousand bucks is nothing to shy away from and can get them going on their next project. I do believe it gave them a boost, but this is very much a PR headline rather than an exponential overnight success.”

                • Patches@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  21·
                  2 years ago

                  Actual text also below???

                  “A mentor once told me that if you see the percent, it’s because the number isn’t strong. If you see the number, it’s because the percent isn’t strong. But if you see both, that’s when there’s something,” Laborde told GameDaily.

                  • schmidtster@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    12·
                    2 years ago

                    So where did the one sale to four come from?

                    Another Linky

                    How many do you want that corroborate that it increases sales and not cannibalize them?

            • Zoolander@lemmy.worldEnglish
              21·
              2 years ago

              Did you even read your own article?

              "That’s really awesome for an indie dev; a few thousand bucks is nothing to shy away from and can get them going on their next project. I do believe it gave them a boost, but this is very much a PR headline rather than an exponential overnight success.”

              “While they successfully moved the needle and made a PR splash, this is not a sustainable approach,” Laborde said. “It reinforces a mentality that art ‘should be free’ and ultimately devalues their work over time. This works as a one-time attention grabber and audience-expander, but I can’t recommend it long term.”

              It did not increase sales. They couldn’t even attribute it to sales.

              Such a significant increase in sales certainly sounds impressive, but for Nicholas Laborde, founder and executive producer of Raconteur Games, the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.