George R R Martin Blames Aussie TV Networks For Game Of Thrones Piracy


Speaking at a the US premiere of Game Of Thrones, author George R R Martin has revealed he’s no great fan of piracy, but that he understands why so many Australians pirate Game Of Thrones. He’s also not a big video game player, but that’s for slightly different reasons.

The Verge reports on comments that Martin made at the screening in relation to piracy, noting that being the most pirated show in the world

In a strange way that’s a compliment. It’s the sort of compliment that you could do without, probably, but it is a compliment nonetheless. I know that a lot of that piracy is taking place in Australia, where for whatever reason they delay the show six months. So people are just anxious to see it. I think we’re seeing — we’re still right in the midst of a whole new template evolving for television and film entertainment.

On the question of whether shows should simply be released more rapidly:

I think it would cut down on some of the piracy that’s a problem. You know, if Australia was getting the show the same day that America was getting the show, then maybe the Australians wouldn’t be downloading hundreds of thousands of copies. But I don’t know. Why do Australian broadcasters choose to delay it? They have reasons; you’d have to go to Australia and ask them. But I guess that’s a model of how they want to present it to their audience and what time they want to present.

He’s also not a big video game player, but that’s not because he’s not precisely a fan.

I played a few video games back in the 80s and that it wasn’t that I didn’t like them. It was that I liked them too much. And I think I probably lost a novel or two there, cause I would get hooked on someting and I would be playing it over and over again, and I would be staying up all night.

[The Verge]