People to mention "Hollywood" like it's a single entity that can easily decide the fate of everyone in the movie-making business. In reality, there are lots of companies doing lots of different things and with lots of different interests.
The only solution that allows them to compete with pirates is to have one monopolistic mega-corporation that controls all the content, so it can sell it easily without licensing issues. Any new content producers are somehow forced to participate in this corporation. This is even implied by piracy advocates who say "why can't Hollywood just do this"...
Well, there is the MPAA, which seems to do what you're talking about, except rather than coming up with an all encompassing solution, they sue you. Because nothing says customer service like a lawsuit.
> The only solution that allows them to compete with pirates is to have one monopolistic mega-corporation that controls all the content, so it can sell it easily without licensing issues.
Out-of-the-box thinking: what if the tickets to movies were sold in advance of production, like a Kickstarter?
I use 'hollywood' as a way to describe the industry not the individual players. There are people in 'hollywood' that tried different business models (Louis CK comes to mind), and have found extreme success in doing so.
There is a need for an old, outdated business model, that doesn't benefit the consumer -- and it would appear no longer benefits the industry -- to change.
Consumers want content on demand, without delay, both offline and online. If 'hollywood' as an industry does not accommodate the change in consumer behavior, they will lose to other sectors that do accommodate this change.
The only solution that allows them to compete with pirates is to have one monopolistic mega-corporation that controls all the content, so it can sell it easily without licensing issues. Any new content producers are somehow forced to participate in this corporation. This is even implied by piracy advocates who say "why can't Hollywood just do this"...
But I'm not sure that's really what we want.