In Australia, copyright is automatic and applies from the moment a work is created. Similar laws apply overseas, providing protection to content creators from having their work stolen or used without their consent.
However, this does not deter those known as ‘pirates’, from uploading copyrighted content, notable films, TV, and music, to the Internet for others to download. Time and time again, efforts have been made to suppress file sharing websites like The Pirate Bay, which is in now in its umpteenth domain name to prevent authorities in different countries from taking down the site. The Pirate Bay has become almost invincible, due to peer to peer sharing.
Plenty of arguments have been made that this rampant sharing of copyrighted content is hurting creators, like film studios, who claim loss of ticket sales because of films being shared online. So if the effects of piracy are so negative on content creators and copyright holders, why are people so reluctant to give up on piracy? There has been an overwhelmingly negative response to corporations and governments censoring torrent sites.
It is because modern audiences demand to access content at their convenience? If someone in Australia wants to watch the latest offering of Game of Thrones, they have two options: buy an expensive Foxtel package, thus paying a premium for a lot of extra content they don’t desire or need, or wait until the DVD release of the season a year later. Waiting a year to watch a show is an unpleasant option in today’s Internet world where online discussions are an integral part of the media experience and dreaded spoilers lurk around everywhere corner.
Some creators do support piracy, like Brazilian author Paulo Coelho offered his opinion on file sharing: “a person who does not share is not only selfish, but bitter and alone.”