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Why buy illegal DVDs?
THE task of the ASVA (Public Foundation Protecting the Copyright of Audiovisual Artists) is to protect the copyright of audio visual products (films) and to fight against the illegal copying, internet downloading and distribution of DVDs, video CDs, other bearers and interactive games. ASVA also provides its expertise to police to investigate such cases.
Unfortunately, in Hungary many think that copying of copyright protected materials such as DVDs, CDs and internet downloading of movies and music is natural - a normal practice, a way to get hold of films and music for a fraction of the price of legal products. What you get for a cheap sum is the best investment. In the case of DVDs and VHS cassettes, however, this statement does not hold true.
The sound and image quality of DVDs sold on markets or through other illegal channels is much lower than that of the legal product. Buyers of illegal DVDs have to give up the increasingly popular B-roll material, interviews, director's comments, anecdotes, videoclips, and deleted scenes usually provided as an extra service on legal DVDs.
The low quality packaging, covers and the lack of other added value does not enable these illegal products to enrich one's collection.
The majority of people do not know, or misunderstand, the prerogatives of copyright law. Most of the debate arises over the question of private copying. Such copying is considered to be the free use of the product only if the material is copied with one's own equipment, in one's home, for one's own use or for the family, and the downloaded or copied film remains within the family. If you give the material to a friend or acquaintance, you breach the copyright law. An issue closely related to private copying is the cracking of the copy protection of DVDs and CDs. Writing software, or handing it over to someone, in order to disable copy protection qualifies as a breach of copyright law and, as a matter of fact, the "cracker" may be held responsible for a criminal act. Mass reproduction does more harm than private copying to the entire film industry and, as a consequence, the state. In Hungary, illegal downloading and reproduction deprives the local film industry of an estimated Ft6 billion ($31 million) in annual turnover.
The turnover of the industry, calculated on the basis of income from sales of cinema tickets, VHS and DVD rental costs and sales, and cable TV fees, accounts for an annual Ft29 billion ($151 million). The estimated tax loss of the state caused by pirate actions is Ft1.3 billion ($6.7 million).
Losses are higher if the market of the increasingly popular PC and console games are also taken into account. That is because cautious estimations consider the annual turnover of these games to be around Ft3 billion ($15 million). The United States is hit even harder by the breach of copyright laws: an annual $250 billion loss is caused by abuse of copyright laws, patents and trademarks. Companies producing copyright protected products employ about 4% of the labor force of the United States. According to 2002 data, the value of copyright protected products accounts for $626.6 billion of the GDP, about 6% of the American economy.
Unauthorized copiers of DVDs and VHS damage all who participate in producing, making and distributing a film.
Even low budget Hungarian movies are affected. According to their own figures, the producers of Valami Amerika, Magyar Vándor and Kontroll lost some Ft20-30 million due to illegal distribution. Pirates not only directly harm filmmakers, they also hit the reduction of the price of legal products, which would only be feasible if publishers could sell more in order to realize the same profits even at lower prices. We believe that the dangers of crime related to the breach of copyright law is not to be downplayed either. An increasing number of illegal resources for organized crime and terrorism are connected on a worldwide scale, thus crime related to copyright laws, such as DVD pirating, are considered an important source of income for the underworld. The US Government has recognized the danger that illegal reproduction and distribution poses on society and to the economy, and has strengthened its efforts against illegal copying and the breach of copyright law.
It is within this framework that the US plans to send investigators to its embassies in Hungary and Hong Kong. Their mission will be to cooperate closely with local inspectors and make the protection of copyrighted materials more efficient.
According to the Motion Pictures Association (MPA), in Hungary the turnover of the illegal market is equal to that of the legal market.
We also know that the black economy has been restructured in the last few years. While earlier good quality pirate products from the East endangered legal DVDs and CDs the most, today with the spread of DVD burners discs can be burned at home and are now the most sought after.
Every week new police cases are opened in which DVD and VHS copiers are held legally responsible for their actions. Working in cooperation, ASVA and the police have already cracked down on Hungary's pirating network. In one case in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, about 4,000 counterfeited DVDs, 1,000 illegally copied VHS tapes and a number of PCs enabled to "crack" copy protected DVDs were confiscated. ASVA will continue to work closely with police to fight against such audiovisual piracy.
Illegal reproduction and distribution of films does carry a penalty. The Criminal Code sanctions this act with eight years in prison in the most severe cases, and two years imprisonment or high fines in less severe cases. The Nyíregyháza Municipal Court recently sentenced a person selling counterfeit VHS cassettes and DVDs to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. Of course the black economy cannot be erased, however we consider it our long-term goal that the social status of stealing films changes in Hungary: that people stop bragging about their copied DVDs, and that buying pirate cassettes is no longer considered "cool".
There is a need to change attitudes. We would like to see citizens understand that "stealing" films is illegal and that it causes great damage to filmmakers, the state, and last but not least (through low image and sound quality) it harms their own listening and viewing pleasure as well.
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