Despite "massive piracy", Hollywood has best summer in history

Hollywood/MPAA representatives are constantly complaining about how online piracy is destroying their business.  Yet, the numbers belie these assertions.  Just today, the BBC reports (First $4bn summer for US cinema) record-breaking revenues, despite P2P/Bittorrent downloads being at an all-time high:

First $4bn summer for US cinema

Summer box office takings in North America have broken the $4bn barrier for the first time. High school comedy Superbad led the charge, topping the chart for a second week with takings of $18m. Mr Bean's Holiday, Rowan Atkinson's latest outing as the goofy character, made its debut at four behind The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3.

Action thriller War and The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Johansson were also new entries. The Simpsons Movie. Stardust, Hairspray and The Invasion complete the top 10 line-up.

Box office analysts Media By Numbers say the $4bn figure outclasses summer ticket sales of $3.95bn (£1.95bn) set in 2004.

Their estimates suggest that this summer's box office returns will stand at $4.15bn (£2.05bn) by the time the season officially ends on 3 September.

But they added that actual summer ticket sales are expected to be about 606m, only the sixth-best in modern times.

The best season in recent times was in 2002, when 653.4m cinema tickets were sold.

"Whether it be sequels, originals, comedies or action movies, this particular mix of films brought in audiences in a record-breaking way," said Paul Dergarabedian, Media By Numbers president, referring to the summer's cinematic offerings.

So what does this mean?

First, it doesn't mean that online downloading isn't affecting the movie industry; it is.  But how much of an effect is an open question.  With record profits, perhaps the movie industry has found a way to co-exist with P2P.  Perhaps there is no need to arrest movie-going teenagers on their birthdays for recording 20 seconds of a film or mandating crippling technological restrictions on innovation.

Anyway, I guess all I'm saying is that it would be nice to see these statistics quoted as often as I see statistics about "piracy" quoted in the media and in Congress.