Live data from Hacker News

25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

latenighter.com

51–60 of 356 posts

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#51
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything they own. They (and most other big Hollywood studios) are in deep shit and will probably shut down if there is no miracle.

> will probably shut down if there is no miracle Someone will buy their IP and back catalogue in a bankruptcy. Those will retain value and even highly speculative properties might be worth owning just in case if the price is right.

Probably Disney too if antitrust didn't get in the way. I'm pretty sure I don't want them meddling with Star Trek, but that may be the only way it stays in existence.

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#52
post #17

How much could it possibly have been costing them to leave old clips up? I suspect the really old stuff was pretty low traffic, file storage is ridiculously cheap, how much money could this realistically save them? I'm sure it's not "zero" but I think I'm missing something...is it copyright savings or something?

Not much, but they'll benefit much more in the short term in reduced taxes by writing down those assets to zero.

Edit: this was downvoted, and I don't understand why. Am I wrong in thinking this action was made in pursuit of a write down? FWIW, this wasn't a thoughtless comment by a random Internet passerby; I hold 41,905 shares of PARA.

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#53
Free content removed by previously benevolent publisher.

It's too bad they weren't able to make their free content into a profit stream.

The sad part here is that they were / are a steward to something beloved by many but through copyright they take it as hostage to the grave.

If they no longer find value in distributing it shouldn't they be obligated to waive their ownership?

Maybe copyright itself needs some reform if it grants control over the archaelogical / historical record of our civilization

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#54
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also think Adblock is piracy?

Obviously...You use a service, which costs money to run/build/produce, and the way that service is paid for is by advertisement. Your decision that the advertisement is annoying or intrusive isn't what makes your circumvention of it piracy or not, it is your violation of the terms according to which you're being given access to the content. I find it interesting that I have yet to meet a single person advocating for…

> YouTube who, upon being given the option to have an ad-free experience by paying for YouTube premium, choose to do so.

That’s not interesting because it’s a false dichotomy.

If someone watches youtube and premium costs 5% of their monthly income, it will not be a shocker when they choose to block instead.

Similarly, people who view it as a shakedown for payment with the alternative being visual and audio harassment are not going to bend the knee easily.

I lost all respect for youtube when I saw that my dad is subject to a minimum of 60 seconds of political attack ads every 5-10 minutes that can’t be skipped. Literal political propaganda 10 times an hour. Fuck them.

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#55
post #53

Free content removed by previously benevolent publisher. It's too bad they weren't able to make their free content into a profit stream. The sad part here is that they were / are a steward to something beloved by many but through copyright they take it as hostage to the grave. If they no longer find value in distributing it shouldn't they be obligated to waive their ownership? Maybe copyright itself needs some reform…

I'm reminded of how trademarks work: If you don't bother to defend them, then you lose them. Maybe copyright should be the same way: If you're not distributing copies any longer, you lose the copyright protection.

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#57
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also think Adblock is piracy?

Obviously...You use a service, which costs money to run/build/produce, and the way that service is paid for is by advertisement. Your decision that the advertisement is annoying or intrusive isn't what makes your circumvention of it piracy or not, it is your violation of the terms according to which you're being given access to the content. I find it interesting that I have yet to meet a single person advocating for…

My argument against paying for YouTube is that it feels like rewarding their shitty ad behavior, while also requiring me to use an account that allows them to track me and continue selling my data. If I had any faith in Google not being evil, I'd be happily paying for rather a lot of Google services...

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#58
post #47

Could they just have uploaded these to YouTube and monetized there through ads? Might not go with their brand, but better than deleting!

You do realize YouTube is one of their main threats, and their main advantage over YouTube is higher quality? Giving treasure trove of quality content to YouTube in exchange for peanuts while shuttering their own, that would be a double whammy.

As opposed to making zero money, having your content be pirated and not having an official archive? Putting it on YouTube with ads would have without a doubt been the better option here

Re: 25 years of video clips gone as Paramount axes Comedy Central wesbite

#59
post #42
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have something anymore if a thief gets it. Nothing gets lost here. There is even more of it afterward. So please...spare us that sad tactic.

Sorry but this pointless semantic argument has been thoroughly debunked. A tangible object is not required for it to be considered theft in anything other than very specific legal contexts. That's why we talk about musicians 'stealing' riffs or chord progressions. That's why artists accuse AI of 'stealing' their digital artwork. That's why comedians complain about other comedians 'stealing' their jokes.

It hasn’t been debunked. It’s still not theft despite artists using the “you stole my idea” colloquialism.

It’s non-rivalrous and a massive portion of the world does not see it as bad at all to copy ideas (see China), let alone anything on par with property theft.

Post reply on HN