Will Movie Piracy End? The Answer May Lie in NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been one of the most transformative innovations in Hollywood for the better part of two years now. The level of adoption that these tokens have gotten has been nothing short of impressive. Movies have been released as NFTs while movie makers use them to promote their projects and release merchandise. Big studios have also started backing these NFT movies because they believe they are the future of the industry.
While many initially believed that NFTs were just a fad, they’ve now become a cornerstone of the movie space that should definitely be reckoned with. And, there’s every reason to believe that a majority of movies will be released as NFTs in the future.
As early adopters explain, NFTs can transfer creative power and profits back to filmmakers and fans. However, one underrated benefit that they could also bring is the eradication of piracy from the movie space. So, will NFTs end movie piracy? In this article, we’ll look into how NFTs could end piracy as a trend and return authenticity to movie authenticity.
Piracy: Filmmakers’ Biggest Enemy
In its simplest sense, piracy is the unauthorized duplication of copyrighted content. Pirates basically take content that has already been released, make exact duplicates of it, and sell it off at much lower prices.
Piracy is truly detrimental to filmmakers. As creatives, filmmakers spend years of their lives coming up with concepts for their projects. They work on directing, music scores, script writing, and more. They also pour a lot of money into their movies to ensure that the quality is top-notch and the outcome is something they can be proud of. Then, someone simply records it and sells it off at a cheaper rate, to steal the profit that the filmmakers had initially hoped to get.
Is it unethical to pirate movies? It goes without saying. Across the world, many laws have been made to combat this problem once and for all. However, despite the worldwide disdain, piracy has continued to grow. Here are some quick facts about it:
- According to statistics, the movie and TV industry is projected to lose about $50 billion in revenues to pirates alone this year.
- Piracy accounts for about up to 500,000 job losses.
- Pirated videos get about 230 billion visits annually.
- Visits to movie piracy sites were also reported to have jumped by 42.5% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021.
- Even movies that flop in cinemas end up being hits with piracy sites. Sadly, none of the revenue goes to the filmmakers.
Blockchain Technology To The Rescue
There have been several attempts to cut content piracy in the past few years. However, none of these methods has succeeded in eradicating piracy entirely. Enter: blockchain technology – the same technology that powers cryptocurrencies, NFTs and more.
Blockchain makes it possible for people to track content and items online. Across the world, companies use this technology to track products in their supply chains, ensuring that fakes and duplicates can be stamped out.
This emphasis on verification and identity is crucial to how blockchain technology can combat digital piracy. Blockchain makes it easy to tell original pieces from fake ones and any changes in ownership will also be recorded appropriately.
The NFT Solution
As you’d probably expect, the biggest problem with piracy is the fact that income that should go to filmmakers and studios is diverted. This is especially worse for independent filmmakers, who usually invest their hard-earned money into their movies and end up with little to show for it.
Could NFTs be an effective way to combat movie piracy? In many ways, yes. Here’s how:
Hard-Coded Uniqueness
By design, NFTs are built to be piracy-resistant. The term “non-fungible” basically means “one of a kind.” No two NFTs are the same, so they can’t be mistaken for each other.
NFTs present an interesting opportunity for many filmmakers. They could release their movies as tokens and sell them directly to their fans. This way, they get to keep all of the money that they make, and they can easily recoup the investment they made into the film project.
Just as well, it is easy to launch a collection and sell a limited number of NFTs for your movie. Each of the NFTs will be unique from the others in the collection, making it easy for you to sell and for people to get original copies of your film.
Blockchain-Based Verification
But, can NFTs be copied?
Actually, they can. The NFT market has also seen a rise in plagiarism and it’s easy for some to get skeptical about them. But, there’s also a workaround.
NFTs are built and stored on the blockchain and contain information about the owner. So, if you own one, you can easily check its information on the blockchain to verify its authenticity.
This also means that prospective NFT buyers can check their information out on a blockchain to determine the authenticity of what they’re buying. This is where NFTs hold the advantage over traditional movies – they are verifiable and buyers don’t have to settle for bootleg versions of your movie.
Also, whenever an NFT is resold the change in ownership is recorded. When a movie fan buys an NFT movie, they can see the information of the different owners and ensure that the NFT is original.
Conclusion: A New Dawn For Filmmakers
NFTs have succeeded in becoming an innovation that filmmakers can easily take advantage of – and some already have. With NFTs, filmmakers have the freedom and ability to earn a lot more from their projects, pocket all the profit, and find new ways to engage with their fans while doing so.
Just as well, these tokens could also be functional as filmmakers hope to fight unethical duplicates.
So, will NFTs end movie piracy in their entirety? This is still theoretical. The NFT space itself is quite new, and it will take some time before they become the dominant medium through which indie filmmakers release their projects. However, thanks to their blockchain foundation, NFTs are showing promising signs of helping in the fight against piracy.
Now, it’s just a matter of when these tokens take over the movie space – not if.
Featured image by Cottonbro on Pexels
