respectcopyright.org... kiss my furry white ass

[bagkitty]

It now costs me $13.50 to get my furry white ass (FWA) in to see a first run movie. Having shelled out my shekels to get said FWA into the theatre, I now have the dubious pleasure of being subjected to (as of the last time I went to a movie, Wednesday) 8 overly loud non-theatrical advertisements (and Toyota… I am never buying one of your fucking cars… and am considering getting a class action suit launched against you for making my fucking ears bleed with the volume of your ad) plus the auditory/visual equivalent of whale smegma. Yes boys and girls you guessed it, I am talking about those tear wrenching “public service announcements” from respectcopyright.org.

I actually went to their site before coming here to rant to see if they had any particularly cogent arguments on how illegal downloads was affecting the crews of the films – and will reproduce here the sum total of what they have to say:

YOU’RE THREATENING THE LIVELIHOOD OF THOUSANDS

The entertainment industry isn’t made up only of familiar actors, actresses and directors. It is made up of over 500,000 everyday working people that bring the magic of the movies to you.

But, when movies are illegally downloaded from the Internet, these are the people that suffer the most.
It’s the woman who does the make-up,
the guy who rigs the lighting,
the sound technician,
the costume designer,
the set decorator
and the caterer.

Do you really want these people to lose their jobs?

No facts, no figures… just scare-mongering.

I’ve worked in the film industry, and it pisses me off no end that the discarded placental matter that runs the industry is trying to pull on my heartstrings by suggesting that copyright violations are threatening the jobs of film crews. This is 99.98% crap. What is threatened is studio profit… something that doesn’t trickle down to the crew. What these ads suggest is that Barb and Bob Techies are going to be out of pocket if the piracy doesn’t stop – not fucking likely. Barb and Bob are paid hourly (sometimes the hourly wage is good, Barb and Bob may be paid-up members of IATSE or another of the theatrical unions, and these unions do fight for living wages for their workers – although sometimes Barb and Bob are one-off contract workers and get royally screwed by shell companies that are wound-up before the bills are paid) and will not see another penny after principal shooting is done.

What respectcopyright.org is doing is using the image of real working people to try to get us all feeling guilty that corporate management and a few of the cast who have enough sway to get “points” are not getting the absolute maximum of profit out of each movie.

Cry me a fucking river. So they might have to fly in last year’s private jet, or delay doubling the size of their fucking pool until next quarter. My heart fucking bleeds for these poor little rich boys and girls.

If the copyright they were referring to belonged to a real-life, pissing, breathing, infuriating human being I might care… but these copyrights are owned by corporations… they should fucking well accept that a certain amount of “shrinkage” in their profit margin is going to occur. Don’t piss on my back and tell me it’s raining. Barb and Bob Techie are still going to work for their hourly wages, and the corporate parasites are still going to be rolling around in more lucre than the majority of the western world (much less the majority of the world) can even dream of.

If you have the surplus capital to invest in a publicly-traded company who may be experiencing “shrinkage” in their profit margin, don’t come crying to me trying to mask your self-interest by telling lies about how Barb and Bob are suffering… tell me the truth… and see how much concern I have for your situation (and the angels won’t be missing any room for dancing on the head of that proverbial pin on account of my concerning crowding them out).

And by the way, I have never down-loaded a movie, bought the albums of the two artists I have downloaded commercial songs from, and have downloaded a Billy Bragg song that he explicitly made available so that people could download it… free billy bragg download

respectcopyright.org, kiss my furry white ass, I ain’t buying into your crap about copyright being an absolute right

[An_Arky]

While I don’t share your vitriol, I would say that alot of the todo about “rights” is really property rights, or more specifically “profit rights”. Of course, I don’t want to see anyone their art get ripped off or anything, but it’s really shrill when you view it in light of the horrible human rights abuses rampant in the world.

Also, I think that advertisements in the movie theater (or anywhere else you’ve already paid to get in) are the devil’s own spawn and I hope those greedy bastards go straight to hell.

[An_Arky]

:smack: :smack: :smack:

Of course, that would mean they’d be going back home…

You know what I meant, hopefully.

[bagkitty]

Indeed Arky, I got the idea (although I do wonder which level of the Inferno they inhabit… been a while since I read Dante).

[Guinastasia]

Sometimes these things tempt me to pirate a whole bunch of shit just out of spite.

Of course, I wouldn’t do that. But still, quit being such an ass about it.

[Doomtrain]

God, yes, those fucking ads are so smarmy. And now that’s it’s become commonplace to subject us to fucking ads, it’s even worse, especially when they do those fucking smarmy anti-drug ads back-to-back with the fucking smarmy, whiny film ads. Oooh, people are sitting there for 15 minutes quietly chatting, let’s subject them to loud, obnoxious ads. If they aren’t being marketed to, they won’t know what to do.

[bagkitty]

GMRyujin:

I keep wanting to start chanting “bullshit, bullshit”, but refrain 'cause I think it would just annoy people more…

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

I hate those ads too. I keep seeing one with some bearded jack-off whining about how “all I want to do is work.”

I once said out loud, “so work at fucking McDonald’s.” I got a laugh from the audience.

[matt_mcl]

Considering that more porn is probably pirated than any other medium, I would love to see an ad about that. “Won’t someone think of the fluffers?”

[Doomtrain]

*Originally posted by bagkitty *
**GMRyujin:

I keep wanting to start chanting “bullshit, bullshit”, but refrain 'cause I think it would just annoy people more… **

During the movie ones, I put on my best baby “Wahhhhhhh wahhhhhhhh” cry. It gets some laughs, depending on the crowd.

[bagkitty]

*Originally posted by matt_mcl *
**Considering that more porn is probably pirated than any other medium, I would love to see an ad about that. “Won’t someone think of the fluffers?” **

brings the whole concept of profit sharing to a new level… waves at matt

[Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow]

*Originally posted by bagkitty *
What is threatened is studio profit… something that doesn’t trickle down to the crew. What these ads suggest is that Barb and Bob Techies are going to be out of pocket if the piracy doesn’t stop – not fucking likely. Barb and Bob are paid hourly (sometimes the hourly wage is good, Barb and Bob may be paid-up members of IATSE or another of the theatrical unions, and these unions do fight for living wages for their workers – although sometimes Barb and Bob are one-off contract workers and get royally screwed by shell companies that are wound-up before the bills are paid) and will not see another penny after principal shooting is done.

Let me preface my remarks by saying I also find these ads to be annoying, smarmy populist crap.

Having said that, economically speaking, there is a valid point to what the ads are communicating.

The movie industry is a risky one. Sure, you might make The Lord of the Rings. But you also might make Gigli or The Cat in the Hat. The reason that movie companies are willing to risk their capital producing feature films is precisely becauses there exists the opportunity for tremendous profits.

If the potential for profits is diminished, some producers will decide the investment isn’t worth the risk and will elect to sink their cash into some other endeavor. Net result: fewer movies get made.

When fewer movies get made, Bob the lighting technician and Barbara the costume designer and Mike the boom operator have fewer chances to sell their services. And in that sense, the diminished profts of the movie companies really does impact the “little people.”

Now, as it happens, I think the movie studios are crying wolf over Internet piracy. Unlike music, there’s a lot of value to the consumer in seeing a movie on the big screen. If anything, piracy probably helps gin up interest in going to down the local Cineplex. But the argument that it hurts ticket prices – and thus studio profits, and thus the economic future of the “little people” who help put movies together – is not a frivolous one. It ought not be dismissed out of hand.

[BraheSilver]

I’ve only seen these ads before movies in theaters. This is the worst possible place to show these ads, since you are specifically targeting people who have already paid good money to see the movie. They’re better off making anti-theaterhopping ads.

The one ad I keep seeing features a stuntman whining about risking his life so that thieves can steal the movie. My inner responses: a) Guess we better get rid of stuntmen and do everything in CG so that you’re not risking your life, b) If you were a better stuntman you’d have enough precautions that you wouldn’t be risking your life as much. (I’m sure I’ll get an earful from any stuntpeople on the boards about that one)

What the hell happened to trivia before the movies? Even the “Otm Shank” crap is better than this. And the less said about “The 2wenty,” may its creators experience daily unpleasantness, the better.

[Silver_Serpentine]

I miss movie trivia before movies.

I hate that I now have to sit through 10 minutes of ads before the previews start. Bleh. I already spent $20 for two people here, leave me alone and let me watch my movie.

[sleestak]

I gotta agree with Dewey Cheatem Undhow. In fact if you take a look at what is going on in China it is truely amazing.

From www.csmonitor.com [#1] www.csmonitor.com/2002/0109/p6s1-wosc.html

But in recent years, the culture of counterfeiting in China has expanded. Nearly everything is available - from college diplomas, to shampoo, batteries, and car-inspection stickers. The Chinese themselves joke that in China, “everything is fake but your mother.” If you want Windows XP software, the cost is $3.50. Textbooks at prestigious Beijing University are mostly Xeroxed, as are many Western titles in the library at the China Academy of Social Sciences. If you want a DVD copy of “A Beautiful Mind” or “Fellowship of the Ring,” no problem. They are on sale for $1.20 by locals outside banks, coffee shops, and department stores.

Or from ZDNet. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-502379.html?legacy=zdnn

Already, Jacobson said, traditional forms of piracy cost the industry $2.5 billion. Most of that is spent on analog videotape copies, where film quality obviously suffers

Even if the number in the last quote was off by a factor of 2 we are still talking about large amounts of money.

The movie companies are in business to make money. If people steal from the movie companies those companies are going to do something to try and keep the profits up. Usually that means laying people off.

As more people get broadband access more people are going to be able to download large files. That means more piracy.

From the OP:

… but these copyrights are owned by corporations… they should fucking well accept that a certain amount of “shrinkage” in their profit margin is going to occur.

So, by this thinking, retail stores know that shoplifting is going to occur. Therefore they should just accept shoplifting and eat the loss, right? They shouldn’t bother trying to disuade people from shoplifting, right? They shouldn’t have shoplifters arrested, right?
Slee

[An_Arky]

Hey, I agree piracy is a bad thing. But if they’re worried about losing money, they oughta consider not annoying the everloving shit out of their customers.

[Priam]

I saw that commercial at the theater right before Return of the King and was very pleased to hear people heckling it everywhere and just generally laughing the concept off. The point may or may not be valid, but the execution blows big floppy donkey dick.

[Lynn_Bodoni]

The movie industry is a risky one. Sure, you might make The Lord of the Rings. But you also might make Gigli or The Cat in the Hat. The reason that movie companies are willing to risk their capital producing feature films is precisely becauses there exists the opportunity for tremendous profits.

I would argue that if the movie industry was so concerned about profits, that they wouldn’t try to pawn off crap on us.

[semi-hijack] I wish that there was some sort of way to modulate those commercials. The volume is TREMENDOUS. And I find it odd that I can hear every word in a commercial clearly, when I sometimes have trouble understanding the dialogue in the film that I actually WANT to see. This tells me that the film industry COULD make film dialogue intelligible, but chooses not to.[/semi-hijack]

[cheddarsnax]

*Originally posted by bagkitty *
It now costs me $13.50 to get my furry white ass (FWA) in to see a first run movie.

$13.50?! Where do you live, hell?

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow *
**Let me preface my remarks by saying I also find these ads to be annoying, smarmy populist crap.

Having said that, economically speaking, there is a valid point to what the ads are communicating.

The movie industry is a risky one. Sure, you might make The Lord of the Rings. But you also might make Gigli or The Cat in the Hat. The reason that movie companies are willing to risk their capital producing feature films is precisely becauses there exists the opportunity for tremendous profits.

If the potential for profits is diminished, some producers will decide the investment isn’t worth the risk and will elect to sink their cash into some other endeavor. Net result: fewer movies get made.

When fewer movies get made, Bob the lighting technician and Barbara the costume designer and Mike the boom operator have fewer chances to sell their services. And in that sense, the diminished profts of the movie companies really does impact the “little people.”

Now, as it happens, I think the movie studios are crying wolf over Internet piracy. Unlike music, there’s a lot of value to the consumer in seeing a movie on the big screen. If anything, piracy probably helps gin up interest in going to down the local Cineplex. But the argument that it hurts ticket prices – and thus studio profits, and thus the economic future of the “little people” who help put movies together – is not a frivolous one. It ought not be dismissed out of hand. **

1.) I don’t really believe that fewer movies will get made. The demand for new movies is still enormous and I don’t believe that pirating really cuts much into profits. New releases are still breaking records for prifits.

2.) I don’t care if fewer movies get made, because most movies are crap anyway and if studios have to be morse selective maybe they’ll put some more work into the quality of what they do produce.

3. I couldn’t give less of a shit about Bob the lighting technician or Mike the boom operator. I don’t give a fuck if they work on movies or not. There is plenty of work at Burger King. I do not owe them a living in Hollywood.

Moreover, there is nothing preventing the studios from paying these people more for the movies they do work on (and paying the actors less). The pay scales in the movie industry are absurdly flawed and that’s not my fault either.
Let me add that I’ve never illegally downloaded any movies or even any music and I go to movies at least once a week. I’m a consumer of the product. That’s one of the things that makes these ads so obnoxious. The only people watching them are people who already paid for a ticket. Why should I be hectored for not pirating movies?