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Hiding in Plain Sight: The YouTubers' Crowdfunding Piracy (engadget.com)
Some YouTube channels are publishing full-length episodes of TV shows, rights of which they obviously do not own, and on top of this, they are trying to crowdfund their piracy efforts by asking viewers to donate some cash. From a report: YouTube creators asking for money is nothing new, be it through the site's built-in membership features or third-party services such as Patreon. But trying to profit off someone else's intellectual property isn't the same as asking for support on an original video they've created. The person who runs the Kitchen Nightmares Hotel Hell and Hell's Kitchen channel did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Engadget, but their Patreon page (named YoIUploadShows) isn't coy.
"Hey! It's not as easy as you might think to make my content, I have to look for the best quality episodes I can find, download them, convert them, edit them, render them and upload them," YoIUploadShows' Patreon page reads. "This can sometimes take at least a few hours. Especially because the downloads are usually slow and the rendering itself can take a couple hours, because I started making all my uploads in HD instead of 480p to give them a little extra clarity." It's not easy, folks, so for that he or she "would really appreciate the extra support if you have any money to spare :)"
"Hey! It's not as easy as you might think to make my content, I have to look for the best quality episodes I can find, download them, convert them, edit them, render them and upload them," YoIUploadShows' Patreon page reads. "This can sometimes take at least a few hours. Especially because the downloads are usually slow and the rendering itself can take a couple hours, because I started making all my uploads in HD instead of 480p to give them a little extra clarity." It's not easy, folks, so for that he or she "would really appreciate the extra support if you have any money to spare :)"
Picking Kitchen Nightmares as an example, it appears I can view the series online for free on an official venue. That is, the content is out there and not stuck behind a paywall. So if you see someone uploading it to YouTube then are they stealing ad revenue from IP holders or are they providing a competing service? Because last I knew, the Republican wet dream is a clever individual forming his/her own business in direct competition to a larger one, and consumers being able to decide for themselves which entity to support - you know, "free market" and all that other fantasy bullshit.
Somehow I don't think that's how it will be interpreted. For some totally inexplicable reason, the ideal of startups and young entrepreneurs seems to go out the window when they start to compete with the businesses who can buy politicians and other talking heads.
(To be clear, I'm talking about the case of free content. I don't have the same opinion of people uploading HBO or other paid shows.)
Of course, you do hurt them all. Their jobs depend on their employer's being able to sell the fruits of their labors — and profiting from it. Diminishing the profit diminishes the pay. For everyone.
So theft is Ok, if you really hate the victim? How about rape? Is it Ok to rape a CEO of a "megacorp who's [sic] trickle-down model is a ripoff for everyone"? How about murder? No? Why not?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.