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Competing Contests To Create Pro- and Anti-Piracy PSAs
An anonymous reader writes "New York City recently announced a PSA contest, in which it asked schoolkids to create a video about how evil piracy is. Techdirt found the whole marketing campaign questionable, and via some Freedom of Information Act requests, discovered the whole thing was really a propaganda front for NBC Universal. They also looked at the fine print on this 'pro-copyright' contest, and discovered that in entering, you agreed to give up your copyright. And, you were only allowed to repeat NBC Universal's talking points. Don't try suggesting that perhaps the industry should have adapted. In response, Techdirt has launched a competing video contest, where they ask people to create videos on the impact of technology on creativity. The Techdirt contest doesn't give you specific talking points, lets you present your own opinion, lets you retain the copyright on your work ... and is paying twice as much as the NYC/NBC contest."
When I see things like this, I immediately think "Well done!" to the owners/managers of the website. The normal website would have gone and written up an article on it and left it at that. There are very few sites that would have made the leap from "Waaaaa, look at those cronies!" to "Heh, I know how to fix this, give me some prize money - we're having a contest!".
I might even have to start having a read of the site every now and again.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
"You wouldn't want to play a movie on any unauthorized devices."
"You wouldn't want to skip the movie previews we've carefully chosen for you.."
"You wouldn't want to have a backup handy if your media was damaged."
Be a good citizen, report piracy today!.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Got Milk is advertisement, not PSA.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
"I'm eight years old, and I used to watch The Little Mermaid every day. One day my disc wouldn't play. My dad says it's got a scratch on it so it won't play anymore. I cried and cried, so my dad downloaded the movie from some website and burned me another copy. I turned my dad in to the nice people at the MPAA and he's serving hard time now. My mom and I aren't very happy at the shelter, but we feel better now that the movie studios are getting their fair share."
Don't pirate movies. Because the movie studios aren't rich enough."
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
The Pro-Piracy PSA should be an exact copy of the Anti-Piracy PSA but the voice over should be read with a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm.
Everyone needs to see this PSA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
Just in case anyone was wondering (as I was, initially). PSA = Public Service Announcement.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Now, of course the poor starving movie execs will loose, but they're free to get a job at McD.
All the artists and craftspersons that are actually required should of course get by.
Hmmm, so the current bloodthirsty interpretation of copyright doesn't work, but there is a flaw in eliminating copyright altogether. If only there were some way to secure a limited right for a shorter period of time. Like, suppose copyright lasted for 7 years automatically, then could be re-upped for another 7, and suppose it did not cover copying for educational purposes or satire. That would give enough financial incentive to keep those people who are genuinely passionate about the craft in the game, without creating such an enormous cashflow as to attract all the lawyers and sociopaths (who ultimately wind up drowning out the people who are doing it because they have a genuine gift, or something important to say).
It almost seems like some really sharp people could have figured that out right at the beginning.
Oh yeah, they did.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
For a stellat example, look at the systematic destruction of works by the BBC from the 60s and 70s.
There were over 200 episodes of Dr Who alone (there were many other series besides that one in the burn bin) that were destroyed without backup copies, because the bbc did not have room to store them, and because the copyright licensing of those episodes required outside stations and studios to return *all* copies sent to them.
Currently, only 20 or so episodes remain totally MIA from the first doctor series, due almost exclusively to painstaking reconstruction from poor quality pirate recordings collected by the viewing public when the series ran.
The only reason approx 180 of the 200 were recovered, was BECAUSE of "piracy".
Something to consider, given the cultural impact of that series in the UK, as well as in other countries.
If nothing else, rampant piracy protects popular and influential works from willful destruction, by massively replicating the number of copies. This alone is reason to support personal use piracy.
Your statement itself is trite and meaningless and pretty much worthless, but it does serve to (as a byproduct) point out something interesting:
Art's value is inherantly very subjective. In a civilization merely fighting for survival every day, it's pretty much worthless. When people have time to actually enjoy and pay for art, it's still only ever worth what people are willing to pay. The creator can set the price, but he can never set the value. If the price is too high, some (or all) people won't buy it, and he only has himself to blame.
Piracy, in reality, is simply the free market at work, balancing out prices that are higher than the actual value of the art being sold.
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