Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

The point that he raises by stating the fact that for most of the history of human art, people have not been paid to create art is not one to be overlooked. Mick Jagger has also said this of the music business specifically.

Looking back on art over the centuries I would not say that today's art is necessarily "better" because people are paid to create it.

Yet I've read statements by entertainment industry people that if we don't spend heaps of money on motion pictures, their quality will plummet to the likes of "reality TV".

Not only do I think this is complete rubbish -- it's not the budget that makes the quality of the film -- but all I can think rgarding the reality TV comment is, "Then why the heck are we bombarded with crappy reality TV?" The reasonable conslusion is because the stuff gets watched. So even if there was a drop in quality, it isn't going to affect their profits. People will still consume this stuff.

Re: Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

#6

Post by omonra » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 11:17 PM UTC

twelvechairs wrote: post #4

> making money from art is not a human right. This is an excellent point (and paragraph) - I wish more people understood this (although it is probably scary to many in the startup community).

Is ability to charge money for any labor a human right?

Re: Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

#7

Post by extension » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 11:23 PM UTC

omonra wrote: post #6

twelvechairs wrote: post #4

> making money from art is not a human right. This is an excellent point (and paragraph) - I wish more people understood this (although it is probably scary to many in the startup community).

Is ability to charge money for any labor a human right?

Charging money is a right. Making money isn't.

Re: Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

#8

Post by krig » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 11:29 PM UTC

Brilliant, I agree with just about everything said in this post. There is no credible evidence that piracy actually damages artists, and plenty of empirical case studies where it greatly benefited them. It is horrendously disappointing to see the american government, supposedly the elected representation of the people, ignore all the scientific evidence produced and wholly adopt the viewpoint they are fed by a miniscule but rich group of media companies. If only there was some way of stopping the flow of money from corporations into politics...

I just posted a similar rant on my own website on the characterization of pirates that also refers to the Swiss study that Coulton brings up, plus another study commissioned by the Dutch government that reached very similar conclusions.

http://tusk.se/2012/01/20/piracy-3-character/

Re: Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

#9

Post by warfangle » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 11:33 PM UTC

> don’t yell and scream about how you’re losing business to piracy when your stuff isn’t even available in the box I have on top of my TV.

I ran into this a few months ago. I was bored and slightly drunk from brunch on a Saturday afternoon, and got it in my mind that I’d catch up on the final four Harry Potter movies. Whatever. That it was Harry Potter isn’t necessarily the point. Three of these films - Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Part 2 of Deathly Hollows - were available on Amazon video for rental. Score!

Of course, I didn’t realize Part 1 of the Deathly Hollows wasn’t available on Amazon when I started this drunken marathon. But you can believe after the first two, I was in the mood for more. And I wasn’t about to ruin the series by watching Part 2 before Part 1. I won’t say what route I took to watch it, but these were my legal options after scouring Netflix Streaming, Hulu+, Amazon OnDemand and iTunes:

* Wait two-to-three days for a DVD to arrive from Netflix

* Go to Blockbus..oh.

* Go to a DVD sto..oh. I mean, I suppose I could’ve taken the train 20 minutes to Best Buy at Union Square, bought the DVD of a film I was only going to watch once, take the train 20 minutes back home and … shit. I don’t have a DVD player anymore.

I won’t tell you the course of action I took. Only that the entire experience was exasperating, annoying, and thoroughly made me want to not watch the rest of Harry Potter. And I wanted to give them money.

I don’t get how this is hard to understand.

Re: Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy

#10

Post by eli » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 11:45 PM UTC

I just heard his piece on NPR's Marketplace. I thought he came across well, and the reporter put the tweet in the proper context.