Did you make that copy of those Netflix movies you borrowed yet? Who me? Yeah, probably, according to recent report by the Consumer Home Piracy Research Findings.
The second annual report, prepared by Futuresource Consulting and sponsored by Macrovision, details that about one third of all respondents in the United States and U.K. (with a combined sample size of more than 5,600) said they’d made copies of pre-recorded DVDs in the last six months. That’s up from a little over a quarter in 2007.
Surprisingly enough, the demographic most likely to be copiers are 18-24-year-old males, who live in dorms or their parents’ basements (OK, that last part wasn’t in the report).
While the majority of the copied content in the U.S. and U.K. (62% and 49%, respectively) is legitimately owned purchased DVD, 38% in the U.S. and 30% in the U.K. is from copying rented movies of the new release variety. The numbers dip a little on the older catalog titles, with 30% in the U.S. and just 12% in the U.K. for rented flicks (58% and 54%, respectively, of copied purchased catalog titles).
In the last sixth months, those surveyed said they copied about 12 and 13 DVDs, respectively, in the U.S. and U.K.
So how many DVDs do you copy? And what method do you use?
I too, used to copy my lps and make tapes to play, thus preserving the lp for future playing/recording as needed.
While I don’t copy every dvd that I rent, as a rule, unless its something I particularly want. I do record a lot of the sat receiver using my set-top dvd recorder. Granted in it in the highest quality available or in surround sound,ect, but I do have a copy. and most of what I “tape” is older material, Ie, classic movies and older tv shows and some newer stuff, Its not a big deal, as I don’t have HD yet and probably won’t for a long time.
Tried a couple, but the reduced PQ keeps me honest :)
Chief, it’s called Time Value of Money. Basically, your hourly rate is what your time is worth. And to find out the true cost, it has to be included.
Here’s the interesting bit from the article: most of the copies were made from discs the person actually owns.
This is like what I used to do with LPs I wanted to preserve: I made a reel-to-reel recording of the LP and playing the tape. The quality was just as good, and it preserved the LP. I’d also make a cassette for listening in the car.
The fact that DVD copy protection never allowed for this, and the fact that AACS for Blu-Ray has apparently decided NOT to implement managed copy (sorry, media server companies, you are hosed) means that people are going to again need to use gray market methods to simply preserve their physical media from over-use (sticky fingered kids etc) damage.
No, I don’t think the low resolution, low bitrate, DRM-crippled copies of movies on some Blu-Ray discs is a solution, but it’s a step in the right direction. Up the resolution and bitrate to the actual Blu-Ray content, and that’s a great step.
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lower gas prices and maybe we will start buying more dvd