Thoughts on ip
I recently attended the eG8 Forum in Paris and one of the main themes was the protection of intellectual property rights.
Should intellectual property rights be protected, as we move forward? Absolutely – but we need to keep in mind that the world has changed dramatically these past few years, and consumers now expect instant access to any content from anywhere and on a variety of devices.
In my view trying to protect intellectual property rights exclusively through legal means will be extremely difficult – and the solution in my mind boils down to:
- availability
- price
- quality
Considering how fast news spreads these days and how connected the world is, consumers want instant access to content as soon as it is released, because everyone in their social circles is talking about it.
Availability of legal content
When a new movie is released in cinemas in the United States, consumers based outside the US still have to wait, sometimes several months, to be able to legally watch the movie. The real problem is the distribution rights across borders.
I fully understand that studios are concerned about piracy – but at least if the content was legally available globally it would make a far more sensible case to enforce strict legal action if consumers then continued to choose to download illegal copies despite legal alternatives being available.
I am convinced that a very large percentage of consumers are more than happy to pay for content and thereby support their favorite shows, movies and artists provided it is
easily available in high quality and at a reasonable price.
How about streaming new movies released globally online at a premium?
I am not suggesting piracy can be completely eliminated but with a very large connected and growing global population there is a lot of scope for additional revenue just by ensuring customers are able to actually obtain your content legally.
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