Dear Economist,

I am often offered the chance to have an unauthorised copy of a current film downloaded from the web. As family circumstances presently preclude cinema trips, these offers present my only chance to see some films promptly.

I do not believe in enjoying the fruits of other people’s labours for free. So is there any way in which I can make financial reparation for watching an unauthorised copy?

I live very close to a cinema so one option is to buy a ticket for a screening even though I won’t actually be there. Or I could buy a copy of the DVD when it comes out, even though I don’t really want to own it.

If I cannot put this right in economic terms, my conscience tells me not to watch!

Yvonne, London

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Dear Yvonne,

You should certainly watch, since there is a positive benefit to you and zero marginal cost to the studio. Yet I believe you’re right to feel uneasy about free-riding on someone else’s time and talent. It is not only unfair but contributes to the wrong incentives for future filmmaking; in fact, one suspects that the reason so many Hollywood blockbusters are childish is that the studios know adults don’t have time to go to the cinema any more.

But your proposal to buy cinema tickets or DVDs doesn’t seem right either. It sends a misleading signal that cinemas and DVDs are what you want. You might try alternating your patronage of cinemas and DVDs, while downloading pirated copies many more times than you actually need to. If the studios are paying attention they might start to realise what it is you really want.

All this assumes that your need for an immediate copy is genuine.

I would question that. Do you shoplift when you’re in a hurry?

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