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Paramount will sell $3 DVDs to combat Chinese pirates

Paramount is joining rival Warner Bros. in offering heavily discounted DVDs to Chinese consumers through Warner's established channels in an attempt to combat rampant piracy in that country. They're hoping that despite costing at least twice as much as a pirated copy, the DVDs will sell because people would rather buy legitimate goods.

Last year Time Warner, corporate parent of Warner Brothers, set up Warner China with China Film Group and Hengdian Group to sell movies for prices equivalent to around $1.50 just a few days after they're released in theaters. Since then Fox has also made plans for similar Chinese releases, but with prices closer to $3 per disc, which is also what Paramount plans to sell their DVDs for. As Fox's international home-entertainment manager Keith Feldman said last November, "It comes down to our ability as marketers to convince the Chinese consumer it's worth spending the money."



"We're committed to developing a legitimate market in China, and having two more Hollywood studios gives us more critical mass," Warner Bros. managing director of China distribution, Tony Vaughan, said in a news conference.

Source: Ars Technica

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 7 Nov 2007 23:49

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• 33 comments

• EricCarr

  Nice idea for these studios, only one problem though, the movies that are being sold on the pirate market are new release movies at theater. Not some old movies from the 1980's & 1990's.

  8.11.2007 00:15 #1

• nonoitall

  Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.

  8.11.2007 00:21 #2

• Blackjax

  Isn't $3 like a day's pay in china?
  I'd pay $3 for a movie without all the extras. How many times do you really go back and watch the extras on a dvd!

  8.11.2007 01:35 #3

• cousinkix

  Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.
  
  They rip their paying customers off, with inflated prices for movies, music and software. The rest of the world is forced to subsidize the discounts given only to the thieves in countries with no copyright laws. The RIAA, MPAA and software companies prefer to reward the criminals. IDIOTS!

  8.11.2007 02:13 #4

• jetyi83

  Originally posted by Blackjax: Isn't $3 like a day's pay in china?
  I'd pay $3 for a movie without all the extras. How many times do you really go back and watch the extras on a dvd!actually no its not at all. even in the small villages filled with sweatshops that people complain about. they still will get 3 bucks an hour, maybe slightly less.

  8.11.2007 06:33 #5

• jetyi83

  Originally posted by cousinkix: Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.
  
  They rip their paying customers off, with inflated prices for movies, music and software. The rest of the world is forced to subsidize the discounts given only to the thieves in countries with no copyright laws. The RIAA, MPAA and software companies prefer to reward the criminals. IDIOTS!same thing goes in textbooks for colleges or any schools. Books will cost 80-200 dollars here when you can go to Singapore and find them for 10.

  8.11.2007 06:35 #6

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by cousinkix: Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.
  
  They rip their paying customers off, with inflated prices for movies, music and software. The rest of the world is forced to subsidize the discounts given only to the thieves in countries with no copyright laws. The RIAA, MPAA and software companies prefer to reward the criminals. IDIOTS!same thing goes in textbooks for colleges or any schools. Books will cost 80-200 dollars here when you can go to Singapore and find them for 10.Welcome to AmeriKa the land of the corporate goverment!

  8.11.2007 06:48 #7

• 7thsinger

  Originally posted by nonoitall: Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.What has always cracked me up about stuff like this is by raising these prices to well over inflated they create the piracy problem they're trying to combat. Like any of these dvd's out right now cost as much to make, package, ship, and put on shelves as what we're supposed to pay for them? Yeah, right. Even after royalties per share/copy we're still looking at nine or ten bucks to purchase and still giving someone a profit.
  
  So they jack prices to basically double what it takes to make a profit on it and then scratch their heads when people find ways around paying that price for them.

  8.11.2007 08:34 #8

• c1c

  Cool! So I can get a copy of "My Girl" and "Gigli" for 3$!! WoooHoo! First off I dont think people in China will buy legitimate copies of movies, I'm sure they would rather put the money back in the pockets of their countries' brothers and sisters.

  8.11.2007 11:00 #9

• maryjayne

  The DVDs may sell if you dont have to watch 6 minutes+ of previews plus 2 or 3 FBI warnings before getting to the main menu. I like to make copies of my DVDs because when I put a DVD into my DVD player, I want to watch the movie and not the previews.

  8.11.2007 11:26 #10

• redux79

  Ok if all these studios can sell movies for 3 dollars or less and not at a loss, then why is the rest of the world expected to pay around $20? I’m pretty sure they wouldn't even attempt this move if there wasn't profit in it so they have to be able to turn a profit off a $3 movie. This just shows how greedy these studios really are, they could cut dvd prices in half for the US and Europe and still make a very large profit! If anything this will only validate piracy or sampling of movies/music in comparably wealthy countries. It’s time to overhaul the entire industry and those who don’t change with the times just need to quietly disappear into history.

  8.11.2007 11:46 #11

• BludRayne

  How about combating piracy in this country. Lower the price of DVDs to $3 and my pirating days will be over.
  
  maryjane, if you use DVDDecrypter and selected Remove IFO blah blah protection, Remove PUOs, that will let you skip all that crap in the beginning of a DVD. This works for most DVDs.

  8.11.2007 12:47 #12

• morguex

  Your right Zippydsm
  
  The Goverment used to be for the people, But now it's for the corporations.
  But that explains why some people are in power who have no right to be.
  As for the $3.00 dvd, good luck because I doubt it'll work.

  8.11.2007 17:16 #13

• badkrma

  3$ new or old movies? Yep, pirating is all done for me.

  8.11.2007 18:14 #14

• scorpNZ

  These assholes along with sony & microsoft etc having region locked & all that bullshit smacks of nothing more than discrimination in my book,try buying a dvd movie downunder in my case a new release is in excess of $50 NZ dollars,in some cases it may get as low as $39.95,it just does'nt stop there you've got over priced tv's,computers you get the picture,what really sux is most of this stuff is half price in the USA but they won't let any of the retailers export which really gets my goat,i better leave it there & take my medication befoe i go on a rampage down the street.. :D
  
  edit: shit i'm clean outta sweet leaf now i gotta go for a drive & pick some up from a mate, look out pedestarians scorp's on the move in his light truck mwaaaaaaa

  8.11.2007 19:40 #15

• windsong

  Originally posted by morguex: Your right Zippydsm
  
  The Goverment used to be for the people, But now it's for the corporations.
  But that explains why some people are in power who have no right to be.
  As for the $3.00 dvd, good luck because I doubt it'll work.Why dont you just leave the U.S. then? Canada would welcome you.

  8.11.2007 20:16 #16

• kubapolak

  I agree with some people here! They raise prices here and lower them there, but eventually they will realize that people will start pirating dvd's here as well ( on a much greater scale), therefore they will not solve or accomplish anything.

  8.11.2007 21:51 #17

• chnky18

  The reason they make the prices so high is because they pay the damn actors too much. Why in the hell do you pay 20 million dollars to one actor for a movie. That is where the BS starts. Making movies for $3 dollars here will never happen. Hell it costs $9 just for a ticket to see a movie one time and I dont get to keep it. Studios want piracy to stop, well quit raping the consumer is the way to start.

  9.11.2007 01:04 #18

• td1ddy

  Actually all of you are wrong. (I didn't read all the comments so I am assuming.) First off, wages in China are the same as they are in the United States, except that the income gap is higher. For example, while yes, there are people making 3 dollars an hour there, there are people making 100 dollars an hour as well. There are just more people making three dollars. The reason things are so cheap there has to do with the fact that most goods they use are made from within, hence they do very little importing. So 3 dollars there, isn't quite the same as 3 dollars here. Secondly, if people aren't willing to pay 20 dollars in China for a dvd, it makes no sense for companies to sell them at 20 dollars. It's simple economics. If no one demands legitimate copies, the price falls. Movie companies would rather make 1 dollar for DVD, than make no money at all.

  9.11.2007 04:03 #19

• maryjayne

  @BludRayne
  
  I use RipIt4Me (DVD Decrypter) and then use PGCEdit to make the movie do what I want, which is typically skip all of the garbage and go straight to the main menu. Sometimes I make the dvd start playing the movie instantly for kid's flix.
  

  Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin
  Time is never wasted when you are wasted all the time. - Catherine Zandonella
  Reality is an illusion that occurs due to the lack of alcohol. - W.C. Fields

  9.11.2007 09:42 #20

• morguex

  Quote:Originally posted by morguex: Your right Zippydsm
  
  The Goverment used to be for the people, But now it's for the corporations.
  But that explains why some people are in power who have no right to be.
  As for the $3.00 dvd, good luck because I doubt it'll work.Why dont you just leave the U.S. then? Canada would welcome you.
  I am in Canada, Thank you very much.
  O yeah I guess you think these people should be in power?
  By the way when did I say anything about the U.S. or any other country for that matter, I wasn't reffering to anyone in paticular, I was reffering to most people in goverments period.

  9.11.2007 12:45 #21

• xhardc0re

  ya know, at first i thought the thread title said Paramount will sell $3 DVDs to Chinese pirates
  That would be a great idea! /strokes Chinese beard

  9.11.2007 19:33 #22

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by xhardc0re: ya know, at first i thought the thread title said Paramount will sell $3 DVDs to Chinese pirates
  That would be a great idea! /strokes Chinese beardZOMG!! I thought of it first :P
  
  but really just think if they did this they would undermined pirates everywhere!

  9.11.2007 19:39 #23

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by td1ddy: First off, wages in China are the same as they are in the United States, except that the income gap is higher. For example, while yes, there are people making 3 dollars an hour there, there are people making 100 dollars an hour as well. There are just more people making three dollars. That makes no sense, sir.
  

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  9.11.2007 19:57 #24

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by DVDBack23: Originally posted by td1ddy: First off, wages in China are the same as they are in the United States, except that the income gap is higher. For example, while yes, there are people making 3 dollars an hour there, there are people making 100 dollars an hour as well. There are just more people making three dollars. That makes no sense, sir.hes stating that China is a full bodied 2nd world nation with a lot of poor and a few rich, the "middle" being made of the better paid working class, since they have 2-4X as many people as most they have more working poor.
  
  uhg....I just realized thats 120% zippy speak ><
  

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  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

  9.11.2007 20:04 #25

• bangor09

  Originally posted by nonoitall: Pity we still have to pay $20 for them here in the states. Perhaps we should try pirating more so they'll start selling *us* movies for what they're really worth.The problem it´s that a lot of pirated dvd come from china, singapor, thailand, etc etc, just check ebay and search for dvd sets of "24" and shows as such and you´ll see, so maybe it wouldn't work for normal movies, a lot of times it´s not just saving the money, it´s the feeling of copying a movie or cd and be able to tweak it at you pleasure (taking off previews, fbi warnings, all that crap) that rippers/copiers are impulsed for.
  
  Quote:The reason they make the prices so high is because they pay the damn actors too much. Why in the hell do you pay 20 million dollars to one actor for a movie. That is where the BS starts. Making movies for $3 dollars here will never happen.Not to mention when they release 34,586 versions, editions, releases and cuts for the same movies (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, YA BASTARDS!!!)and overpriced as hell. Why Pay more? just burn them, baby!
  
  Quote: Hell it costs $9 just for a ticket to see a movie one time and I dont get to keep it. Studios want piracy to stop, well quit raping the consumer is the way to start.Well, artists are starting to sell their music directly to the customer via web, could you get the movie on your pc instead to go to the theater for a little extra? I know there's a lot of difference, but if we are searching for the movie on the web anyway instead in the theaters, why not get it from the studios at good quality? movies like "hatchet" had been on the web for sooo long, and still never seen a general theater release. couldn't thaty use the web for that?.
  
  Netflix got a "watch now section" and ssupload showed a great copy of "transformers" and "war" sometime before the dvd release, so I think it could be done. and just like we like to attend to concerts instead of just listen to the cd's, there are movies that even when you have a copy that you dlw'd or bought, you go to the theater to watch them. so here they could take some stuff out of piracy, stop it? maybe not, lowered it? maybe.
  
  Gotta go, FBI are knocking at the door....

  10.11.2007 03:26 #26

• DVDBack23

  Quote:Originally posted by DVDBack23: Originally posted by td1ddy: First off, wages in China are the same as they are in the United States, except that the income gap is higher. For example, while yes, there are people making 3 dollars an hour there, there are people making 100 dollars an hour as well. There are just more people making three dollars. That makes no sense, sir.hes stating that China is a full bodied 2nd world nation with a lot of poor and a few rich, the "middle" being made of the better paid working class, since they have 2-4X as many people as most they have more working poor.
  
  uhg....I just realized thats 120% zippy speak ><Then how the hell are the wages the same...here you can be an idiot and make 8 dollars an hour (or 7 depending on what state your in) and some people here make 1,000 dollars an hour.

  10.11.2007 23:34 #27

• damncrap

  So can someone tell me whats stopping them from copying a legit $3 one and having a now way better copy to sell on the streets and then continue selling it cheaper than the legit ones? lol whos going to care about it being legit if its a good quality and cheaper? They probably making it worse for themselves

  10.11.2007 23:48 #28

• bangor09

  Originally posted by damncrap: So can someone tell me whats stopping them from copying a legit $3 one and having a now way better copy to sell on the streets and then continue selling it cheaper than the legit ones? lol whos going to care about it being legit if its a good quality and cheaper? They probably making it worse for themselvesMaybe nothing,
  
  But if you buy one for $3, you could sell just the movie for a buck, a buck and a half, maybe (if you're greedy)not bad taking in mind you could get blank dvds for 10 cents, although I guess real pirates can get it even cheaper, but if they copy the cover, and trow in a case, it couldn't be selling less that $2 a pop, still some profit to be made because they only would be buying a $3 "master" to make the copies.
  
  A long time ago a found a place that sold "Land Of the dead" for 5 bucks, BEFORE the dvd release, and it even had the menus, subtitles, AND GET THIS, the special features, the quality was excelent, and a friend of mine and I actually compared that copy and the original when it was released, it was not a screener like "Hostel 2" it was the real thing.... only cheaper...and sooner.
  
  What did we learn? that some people that work in the dvd bizz are the same that start the whole piracy cycle, think of it like the war on drugs, it´s not that they want to stop it, they just want to own the market (both legally and illegally, it's all profits, baby), although with dvds no one gets killed ....yet.
  
  
  Just a Thought

  11.11.2007 03:09 #29

• bangor09

  Originally posted by damncrap: So can someone tell me whats stopping them from copying a legit $3 one and having a now way better copy to sell on the streets and then continue selling it cheaper than the legit ones? lol whos going to care about it being legit if its a good quality and cheaper? They probably making it worse for themselvesAnd then again, like I said before, sometimes it's not the profit that moves you, it's the thrill of doing it.
  
  (or so I've been told, for the record)

  11.11.2007 03:16 #30

• chinpark9

  Long held the belief, that complaining is useless. The one way to bend them to the collective will, is not to buy any dvds at all, for a stated period, one month, six months, whatever. You do not need every single dvd that comes out, as this is where they've got you. Not that I have much sympathy for the ' artists' either. A lot of they money they are paid goes straight up their noses, or their arms, if the news are to be believed, and you are the ones giving them that luxury.

  11.11.2007 12:05 #31

• mphsbelle

  Knowledge is power. First of all, Labor in China is extremely cheap as there are no unions, Osha, or protections. If you make good money, you work in the government. I have actually been there. The recent toy scare is a good indication of how things are there. One toy manufacturer was executed for his part in the toy problem. Reference the Yahoo problem over there.Remember, China is holding a large part of the US debt. Politics aside, the purchasers in the US and other nations subsidize the purchasers in other nations. Drugs in other nations cost less than half of what they do here, and in some cases one tenth. Who do you think makes up the difference? The cost of living in China is low, wages are low, etc. The industrialized nations wages, as compared, are much higher as are our cost of living, etc. I would still rather be here. As for the comment about going to Canada, Freedom of Speech is a protected Right in the US and snide comments have no place on this forum.

  18.11.2007 18:31 #32

• borhan9

  I feel that maybe finally the penny maybe dropping for these guys in realizing that they need to lower prices for people to go back to them. I see this as a positive move.

  27.11.2007 15:31 #33