Legal Battle between Stakeholders in Film Industry

This article discusses the legal battle between stakeholders in the film industry, focusing on the case of Voltage Pictures vs Australian downloaders. It highlights the policy problems, analysis of stakeholders, their interests, inclusion and exclusion, and powers. The article emphasizes the significance of stakeholders in the film industry and the need for ethical behavior among viewers.

Running head: LEGAL BATTLE BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS
Legal Battle between Stakeholders
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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LEGAL BATTLE BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................1
Policy problems:..............................................................................................................................2
Policy problem 1: Piracy:............................................................................................................2
Policy problem 2: Appropriate legal recourse instead of coercion:............................................3
Policy problem 3: Growing power of end consumers:................................................................3
Policy problem 4: More strict action against piracy:...................................................................3
Policy problem 5: Confrontation of stakeholders:.......................................................................3
Policy problem 6: Ethical responsibility of film viewers:...........................................................4
Analysis:..........................................................................................................................................4
Stakeholders of the film industry and their role:.........................................................................4
Interests of the stakeholders:.......................................................................................................5
Inclusion and exclusion of stakeholders:.....................................................................................6
Powers of stakeholders:...................................................................................................................6
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
Films are products of the film industries and makers of the films have to sue complex
distribution channels spread all over the world. The film clusters like Hollywood by selling films
like Dallas Buyers Club earn immense revenue. The production houses have to acquire the
intellectual property rights of the films which are worth billions of dollars. These IPRs give them
exclusive rights to distribute the films in the market which generates immense revenue. The film
are often subjected to piracy rackets who download films and breach these IPRs. The company
holding IPR and distribution rights of the film Dallas Buyers Club slapped legal cases on iiNet,
the Australian internet service provider whose service was allegedly used to download the film
illegally. The firm tried to impose financial claim on the downloaders. Justice Perram, the judge
hearing the case in the Australian Court dismissed the claim of Voltage Pictures, the firm holding
the rights to allow them to obtain details of the downloader. The court dismissed the claim on the
ground that the firm used threat to intimidate the downloaders with legal cases which was illegal
(abc.net.au, 2018). The firm failed to prove the strength of its claim before the Australian Court
and thus lost the case to the downloaders.
Policy problems:
The Voltage Pictures vs the Australian downloaders would be regarded as a land mark
case due to several policy problems:
Policy problem 1: Piracy:
The most serious problem which the case gave rise to was the power of the producers
making film to curb piracy. Voltage Pictures, the company owing the copyrights for the film
Dallas Buyers Club filed a case against the internet service provider and illegal downloaders in

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Australia. It intimidated them with heavy compensation and legal action which the court
dismissed as inappropriate. This factor perhaps acted on the side of the downloaders, who were
the end customers. This case raised question on power of the production houses top protect their
films from being downloaded illegally (news.com.au, 2018).
Policy problem 2: Appropriate legal recourse instead of coercion:
Voltage Pictures, the production company holding the rights of the films Dallas Buyers
Club tried to coerce the illegal downloaders of the film with heavy legal cases. This action of the
firm apparently responsible for turning the case against it. The court adjudged this coercive
activity of Voltage Pictures as illegal and ‘inappropriate’. The firm could have gained
advantageous position in the case had it not resorted to illegal ways of coercion (Hörisch,
Freeman & Schaltegger, 2014).
Policy problem 3: Growing power of end consumers:
The growing power of the end consumers was apparently the most remarkable lesson the
case taught the producers of the film Dallas Buyers Club. The court ruled out the claim of the
production house to acquire financial compensation from the consumers for downloading the
film illegally. The downloaders were among the consumers who downloaded the film to watch.
The ruling out of the court to take action against them clearly showed the growing power of the
consumers (Mansell, 2015).
Policy problem 4: More strict action against piracy:
The outcome of the case clearly showed that the film makers required to be stricter while
distributing their movies. The producers of the films should be more cautious while distributing
their films. They should take appropriate actions to prevent piracy to ensure that they can
distribute the films and generate revenue (Rothaermel, 2015).

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Policy problem 5: Confrontation of stakeholders:
The above discussed case perfectly exemplifies the outcome of confrontation of
stakeholder groups. The first stakeholder which the case introduced was the firm holding the
copyright of the film Dallas Buyers Club, Voltage Pictures. The company filed a case against
another stakeholder, the downloaders who were end viewers of the film. The third stakeholder
consisted of the court which dismissed the claim of the company against the downloaders. The
case clearly that when two stakeholder groups confront, the outcome is devastating. Voltage
Pictures did not only lose the case but also its market image before the competitor production
houses (Liu, Liu & Mazumdar, 2014).
Policy problem 6: Ethical responsibility of film viewers:
The case clearly showed that the viewers of films should exhibit and practice ethical
behaviour while downloading films. They should abstain from downloading films illegally which
causes financial losses to the production companies making them. Apparently, the consumers
won the case against the production house but this would have long term impact on them as well.
The production houses making the film would lose money due to piracy which would ultimately
eat into its financial liquidity. The firm as a result would not be able to make high quality films
that would the consumers in the end. Thus, the consumers should abstain from downloading
pirated versions of films and enable the production houses to get their deserved profits
(news.com.au, 2018).
Analysis:
Stakeholders of the film industry and their role:
As pointed out above, the stakeholders play very significant role in the operations and
sustainability of the film industries. They film industry engages a variety of stakeholders owing

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to its global expanse and turnover worth trillions of dollars. The stakeholders which impact the
film industry are the firm producing the films, the actors, directors, the distributors, suppliers and
consumers. For example, the stakeholders of Voltage Pictures, the production company owning
the IPR of the film consist of internet service providers, the judicial systems, the internet users
downloading the films and the distributors. The advancement of technology has made companies
owing the digital platforms like Google and YouTube are important stakeholders. (Hörisch,
Freeman & Schaltegger, 2014). The stakeholders of Voltage Pictures also include suppliers of
the costumes, props, set buildings and all the firms which provides it with resources, both human
resources and materials. Today, the producers releasing films in countries like the US face stiff
competition from with their own industry (Hollywood in this case) and also other film industry.
This competition necessitates them, to release their films worldwide. This brings the production
companies under influences of government bodies like censor boards both of their home
countries and in their host countries. This also brings them under influence of overseas
distributors and counterparts of the stakeholders in their home countries (Mansell, 2015).
Interests of the stakeholders:
The stakeholders of production companies like Voltage Pictures can be divided into two
categories namely, internal external stakeholders and external stakeholders. The apex
management and employees of the company are the internal stakeholders. The interests of the
apex management lies in the profit of the production house while the interests of the employees
lies in high salary and professional growth. The first group of external stakeholders consist of
internet service providers like iiNet which enable viewers to download films. Their interests lies
in generating revenue from the downloaders by allowing them to surf the internet and stream
movies (Liu, Liu & Mazumdar, 2014). The company owning the social media websites are

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important stakeholders of film production houses like Voltage Pictures. When downloaders
download or view movies, they earn revenue. Moreover, they charge immense amount of money
for allowing film producing companies promote their digital platforms for promoting and
distributing movies. The media distributors also generate revenue by distributing movies
worldwide and hence have profit interests in the operations of film production companies like
Voltage Pictures. The judicial systems consists of censor boards which certify films including
foreign films and regulate the film market. The courts help in resolving conflicts which arises
between stakeholder groups like film production companies and internet service providers.
Inclusion and exclusion of stakeholders:
The stakeholder groups discussed above are important and are considered while making
films. However, similar stakeholder groups in host countries with which the country of origin of
the film has weak relationships are excluded. For example, in the given case, countries like the
United Kingdom and India have strong ties with the USA, the home country of Hollywood.
Hence, the stakeholders like distributors are included among the stakeholders of Hollywood
films. Again, countries not having strong cultural ties or not being significant Hollywood
markets are not considered important stakeholders (Hörisch, Freeman & Schaltegger, 2014).
Powers of stakeholders:
The stakeholders exercise great powers on the operations of the film production
companies like Voltage Pictures. The internal stakeholders, the apex management and the
employees make and execute strategies respectively. Thus exercise great power because they
actually control the operations of the film production company. The internet service providers
and website owners enable the film producing companies distribute films and thus have power to
control the revenue generation of the production companies. The media distributors too have

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similar power to control the revenue generation of the film production companies. The judicial
systems exercise great power in settling of disputes between these stakeholders and thus occupy
important place among stakeholders. The home government (the US in this case) and the host
governments allow film production companies like Voltage Pictures sell their film in different
countries to generate revenue. The end consumers to watch the films also have great powers.
they are the end consumers who download films or watch them in the theatres and generate
revenue for all the stakeholders mentioned above except the judicial system and the
governments. Thus, they exercise the ultimate power and decide the revenue generation film
production companies earn by releasing films.
Predictability Level of interest
High Low High Low
Pow
er
Low A(Few problems)
Employees of the
production companies
B(Unpredic
table but
manageable
)
Actors
E(Minimal effort)
Minor actors, spot boys
etc.
F(Keep
infromed
)
Banks
and
sponsori
ng
compani
es
High C(Powerful but
predictable)
Top management of
D(Gretest
danger or
opportuniti
D(Keep satisfied)
Distributors
H(key
players)
Governm

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LEGAL BATTLE BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS
production companies es)
Consumers
ents
Conclusion:
The above discussion shows that stakeholders have very significant role in the film
industry. The stakeholder groups like the governments and the viewers have impact the making
of films. The producers should be very careful while operating in the market and making films.
Wrong steps can lead them to lose their viewer or consumer loyalty. This can lead to loss worth
millions. One can also point that consumers on their part should exercise loyalty towards the film
makers and abstain from downloaded pirated films. The companies which offer digital platforms
should ensure that their platforms are not exploited for movie piracy.

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References:
Dallas Buyers Club pirates are off the hook, but for how long?. (2018). ABC News. Retrieved 26
April 2018, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-12/dallas-buyers-club-case-
abandoned-illegal-dowloads-pirate/7162180
Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in
sustainability management: Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual
framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), 328-346.
Liu, A., Liu, Y., & Mazumdar, T. (2014). Star power in the eye of the beholder: A study of the
influence of stars in the movie industry. Marketing Letters, 25(4), 385-396.
Mansell, S. (2015). Book Review: Rejoinder to Veldman’s review of Capitalism, Corporations
and the Social Contract: A Critique of Stakeholder Theory (Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 271-275).
Sage UK: London, England: Sage Publications.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education.
The pirates have officially won. (2018). NewsComAu. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from
http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/piracy/dallas-buyers-club-war-with-iinet-
downloaders-finally-comes-to-an-end/news-story/a51ba7091b090be07a559a3cab8ad7f1