MPAA VP who wrote SOPA law has change of heart; resigns; and is now key opponent

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57410674-281/mpaas-former-tech-policy-chief-turns-sopa-foe/

by jeffreyshaw • 14 years ago

2 3 14 years ago

news.cnet.com

jeffreyshaw2• 14 years ago

Paul Brigner, who was until last month a senior vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America says:

"The more I became educated on the realities of these issues, the more I came to the realization that a mandated technical solution just isn't mutually compatible with the health of the Internet."

If the MPAA could just start to realize how wrong they are. Maybe they could come up with a creative solution? Although piracy is a major problem, I don't think it will be solved with laws or rules, rather, I think the entire industry is about to be disrupted such that piracy won't even be on the radar.

Perhaps films will begin to include a new sponsored content aspect and with proper measurability the filmmakers will be compensated based on the spread of the film rather than exhausting their efforts to try and stop that spreading.

Just because someone doesn't want to pay to watch a film, doesn't mean they can't still provide value to the filmmaker.

bediger4000• 14 years ago

How did you decide that piracy is a major problem? As near as I can tell from real data (like that pirated version of X-men) piracy seems to have no effect on theater sales.

I do like your final sentence very much: after all, isn't that what professional film reviewers do? They typically don't pay to watch a flick, but the word-of-mouth they (try to) generate gets others to go.

jeffreyshaw2• 14 years ago

I recently had video content I created licensed for use in a motion picture.

My compensation included a small % of profitability of the film, payable as long as certain milestones were met such as ticket sales, etc.

This documentary video was a huge success virally online, it was bootlegged and shared, and discussed.... in fact it was great; the message in the film was able to spread, and that potentially created a huge impact on our society.

The industry-standard contract I signed had no way to measure the reach of my footage to compensate me accurately. I accepted that when I signed it.

But what if we could measure it?

The MPAA isn't going to do it. They're much too caught up in the way they do things. But a startup that could would be the filmmakers best friend.

MPAA VP who wrote SOPA law has change of heart; resigns; and is now key opponent

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