Log In | Register
Rovio Mobile learned from the music industry's mistakes when deciding how to deal with piracy of its Angry Birds games and merchandise, chief executive Mikael Hed told the Midem conference in Cannes this morning.
"We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps, but also especially in the consumer products. There is tons and tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products," said Hed.
"We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy."
Hed explained that Rovio sees it as "futile" to pursue pirates through the courts, except in cases where it feels the products they are selling are harmful to the Angry Birds brand, or ripping off its fans.
When that's not the case, Rovio sees it as a way to attract more fans, even if it is not making money from the products. "Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day."
Angry Birds boss: 'Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business'
Seeded on Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:22 PM EST
Article Source: Guardian Unlimited
- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (2)
"We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have," he said.
"If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow."
- 2 votes
#1 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:22 PM ESTIt is somewhat ironic that Rovio made that comment. I read the following post about the inventor of the game engine used for Angry Birds. It was written in Dec 2010.
However, there was a later post (Feb 2011), Overheard@GDC: Credit where credit's due that made me feel more hopeful.
- 1 vote
#2 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:16 PM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
