Imagine hearing this announcement on your flight:
‘We are now cruising at an altitude of 35 thousand feet, and the inflight movies are about to begin. The captain’s Netflix password is DanDare72, please feel free to use his account.’
A pilot sharing his streaming login seems a preposterous idea, but this is what is happening on board many yachts: private licenses are being shared or used for commercial purposes, along with the screening of illegally downloaded films.
Since Covid, the Studios are now looking outside of the cinema market for copyright breaches. Copyright infringement has always been a known issue.
Now the yachting market – small in comparison and not a priority – has been pulled into focus. The spotlight is very much being shone on those plush, darkened onboard cinemas.
The point: it is illegal to use private home-use content in a commercial environment.
The Studios are now enforcing their copyright and entitlement rights as per the letter of the law.
What some yachts and those who have supplied them have done is turn a blind eye to the home-use contract and have used it illegally as a commercial licence.
Netflix is definitely taking a stand against it. You’ve probably heard of their global crackdown on subscribers sharing passwords outside their households.
Sharing passwords may seem like a natural, generous and ‘harmless’ thing to do, but the account holder must be present, or at least under the same roof, while content is being watched.
And it’s the same onboard: a private license is only for personal viewing. If guests want to spend a stormy day in the cinema, or the crew want to binge-watch a boxset on their downtime, using a shared account…well, this is illegal without the owner there. And as charter usage is a commercial activity, a commercial license is most definitely required.
In this ‘grey area’ of password sharing that seems so easy and generous, people have used the path of least resistance and used communal logins. Many have no inkling that it is illegal.
So how would a studio find out their content was being screened without a correct license? With movie stars and industry moguls being regular guests onboard, eyes are everywhere. It may not take long before they realise their latest blockbuster is being screened without permission. This has actually happened.
In this ‘grey area’ of password sharing that seems so easy and generous, people have used the path of least resistance and used communal logins. Many have no inkling that it is illegal.
So how would a studio find out their content was being screened without a correct license? With movie stars and industry moguls being regular guests onboard, eyes are everywhere. It may not take long before they realise their latest blockbuster is being screened without permission. This has actually happened.
The newly tightened restrictions could result in a takedown notice, summons, fine, or even worse if caught illegally screening content.
So how do we go from being in the murky grey water to crystal clear?
Enter Mr Cinema. Mr Cinema is the world’s first official legal solution for superyacht cinemas. Thanks to Mr Cinema, films are now being delivered to superyachts legally in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Mr Cinema is cooler than Tom Cruise sipping Cristal on an iceberg: bringing you every film, from every studio, around six weeks after the cinema premiere.
Mr Cinema may be cool, but the content is hot: you can watch films up to a year before they appear on other streaming services. And in some instances, some films may be still getting screened by the time they reach your onboard cinema.
It’s exactly the same screening deal as inflight movies: airlines have the right to show movies that have been out for six weeks.
Not only is this good news for private guests, but it’s a great USP for charters. You want your guests to be happy? Delight them with the latest blockbusters and indies.
Mr Cinema is different because of their contract with the Studios. This is thanks to five years of negotiations the old-fashioned way: flying out to LA on multiple trips to meet the moguls and eventually bring top film content to the silver screens of the superyachts.
It’s the first time legal film content including titles from the main studios, mini-majors and indies, has been available to yachts, on a system that is compatible with all AV systems.
Mr Cinema really is a world first, coming in the form of a hard drive that slots into any existing rack system, that any AV integrator can install. The drive comes with a security chip approved by the Studios, and those films can only be viewed by those on board.
The accompanying app is easy and intuitive to use by guests and a breeze to manage by the crew.
On a certain day each month, new movies are pushed out to the hard drive on the boat. On average, there are around 25 – 30 decent movies each year: enough to keep the most avid cinephile glued to the screen. Classics, sports and documentaries are coming soon.
For a one-off set-up fee and a simple monthly subscription, films are updated at a blazing rate. The contract is for one year or 18 months. You can take a six-month holiday from Mr Cinema, depending on the seasonal movements of the yacht.
One of the pleasures of many yachts is the cinema room. Decorated to the owner’s personal taste, with plush velvet, soft lights, and the latest Hollywood blockbuster booming through your bone marrow, it only makes sense that the content being screened is above board.
Everybody loves to watch the latest movies. Do it properly, with Mr Cinema. Now turn the lights down and recline knowing that you are watching the latest blockbuster legitimately.
For more information visit the Mr Cinema website.