On his Tweeter account Kim Dotcom posted a five-step list with the common reasons why people pirate content. The message is addressed to copyright holders & lobbyists with the hope for a better understanding of piracy.
Kim’s first advice is to “Create great stuff“. It goes without saying that this is an important message for those content creators who have the strong belief that they should get paid for their work, regardless of the quality of their labour. Creating great content is a challenge, and getting paid for that sparkle in your mind is to be earned.
The second important step in Kim’s opinion is “Make it easy to buy“. This is a rather old problem of the industries, as they continuously refuse to accept new way of selling their content. In other words, people are inclined to buy stuff that’s available when and where they want it.
Another issue that drives people to pirate content is the release date. Kim believes that “Same day worldwide release” is the answer, and this makes perfect sense. It’s only natural for people to pirate a movie, game, etc. in a part of the world where the product is available later than in a country where it’s been already made available. Take the example of movies – in America a movie gets released let’s say in January 2013, but availability in Europe comes weeks or even months later.
After all said and done, content creators should also think about offering “A fair price“. Take the example of Louis CK, an established stand-up comedian who managed to make millions and keep his fans close by coming up with affordable prices – $5 for a video with him and $45 for a show ticket.
Last but not least, compatibility is also extremely important. Kim refers to this as “Works on any device” strategy. The best example here is Humble Bundle, a collection of indie games that made millions. Why? Because their games work on technically any operating system – Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Android. The benefits are more than obvious.
If you believe there’s more to it than these five steps, feel free to use the comment section below. We’d love to hear your ideas.
Stay tuned!