Film Pirates Looting Hollywood Profits

Film piracy could provoke Hollywood into giving up on the movie business, Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson said.

The film industry has battled various forms of film looting for decades, but this time seems different, the New York Times reported. In the digital era, piracy is more lucrative and sophisticated – and poses a far bigger financial threat.

Piracy has the very real potential of tipping movies into becoming an unprofitable industry, especially big-event films. If that happens, they will stop being made, Jackson — director of The Lord of the Rings and the upcoming remake of King Kong — told the newspaper. No studio is going to finance a film if the point is reached where their possible profit margin goes straight into criminals’ pockets.

The Motion Picture Association of America estimates piracy involving bootleg DVD’s deprived the film industry of more than $3 billion in revenue last year.