Piracy, declining subscriptions put OTT platforms in jeopardy

One knows that OTT platforms pose a challenge to the film exhibition trade. The impact is such that more and more films are failing at the box-office. And some of them do find their viewers when these films hit the OTT platforms; usually after 30 to 45 days, depending on how they perform at the box-office.

A thief is always two steps ahead of the cops. That is the reality of life-a lesson that we learnt long back. Though this is not something that filmmakers can cheer about, the fact is that even OTT platforms, confronted with a decline in subscriptions, face competition now. From the same old pirates!

This piracy menace has been troubling film business ever since the video format came about. Earlier, new film releases were transferred to the video format by various means. It could be a camera print shot taken by a person watching a movie in a theatre or created when the final theatrical release print is in transition from a processing lab, all of which are in Mumbai.

Film prints were carried by couriers to the cinemas in outskirts for the next day's screenings. It was during this movement that a film print could be hijacked for a few hours, converted to a video format on Telecine, and voila, a video print of the best quality is ready to hit the market.

It was not surprising that whenever a new film was released in cinemas on a Friday, it was also available in a network of video libraries and illegal video theatres to be watched hassle-free and Also Websites Like Movierulz, Tamilrockers, IBomma Streaming Freely. Not to forget that cable networks, which provided video content at home, also started showing a film the very day it was released.

That was how the piracy of films originated. Karachi and Singapore were the two major hubs for pirated Indian films.

Now, with the digital format, piracy has not only become easier but also guarantees high-quality results. It has penetrated into code-protected film release discs and the OTT format. No sooner is a film made available on an OTT platform, it is pirated.

Quite unexpectedly even Hollywood is no stranger to piracy, these days. According to a report, 'Spiderman: No Way Home' has been the best-rated film, followed by 'The Batman'.

What about India and our films, mainly the ones in Hindi, which have a wider market and one which is devoid of language barriers. They are similar victims of piracy. But do we care?

Once his film has been released, the producer hardly cares. Also, the laws and their implementation in India are poor. Films may enjoy a limited following on the piracy circuit unless they are available on OTT platforms. There are today portals where anybody can post content. They only act as providers because they on their own do not post anything and, hence, shirk responsibility.

Films apart, the most pirated content happens to be our film music. There are portals that make unlimited songs from Indian films available. There are no defined ownership rights in this regard. Songs are uploaded by individuals who do not necessarily hold the rights to them.

Meanwhile, what about old films and film songs that are available on digital media? Who, if anyone at all, gets the royalties?

In search of a script? Ask ChatGPT! The hot topic across media is ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) bot launched by a San Francisco startup, Open AI, backed by Microsoft, among others.

ChatGPT has caught the fancy of old and young alike. Many other developers are working on AI, but Microsoft has stolen a march with ChatGPT. Not to be left behind, Google launched its own AI version, Bard. It seems the Bard was launched in a hurry and during its very initial trial, it exposed major glitches, coming up with wrong information. The hurry has cost Google a $100-billion market dent, according to the media reports.

ChatGPT is free but not easy to access as yet. There seems to be a huge traffic - probably, more people than expected want to log in because of initial curiosity.

A user can delegate a lot of his work to ChatGPT. You want to write an email or an article, or edit a piece, just leave it to ChatGPT!

What is in it for the filmmakers? A lot as I see it. It can suggest a theme to a writer in a certain genre and can even develop a story for you. It can edit your story, prune it down to a third as we were asked to do in college and we found it very challenging.

Last week, a first-year computer engineering student I know, was asked to write a short Rap song on kinematics. ChatGPT did it for him while he walked away with the prize!

Filmmakers, who pay crores to a star but don't believe in suitably compensating a writer, will find this handy. If you can think up a theme for your film, ChatGPT will do the rest for you. Or, you can ask for suggestions in a certain genre. GPT knows about all the films ever made and will churn out just the ‘right’ script for you.

The problem with ChatGPT is that its data knows only about what already exists and the story or script it will turn out for you will only be a rehash of past films. But when did our filmmaker ever care if the script was a copy, inspired or lifted?