Stephen Fry again! Against the aggresive strategies of the copyright industries

[bohenmerchant1]

megaupload has just been taken down buy the government and now they trying to introduce a bill called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)

[Andreazor]

I fucking love Stephen Fry. I wish I knew him personally.

[TranceScotland]

To anyone looking for British progamming you can get it at thebox.bz so long as you don't mind becoming a "criminal" or a "pirate"

[PHOG1]

why do we keep electing these ignorant fuckwits to run our country when there are gems like stephen fry in the world who could be doing so much of a better job of it.

[erosmangr74]

Just when I thought I could not possibly love this man any more than I already do, he delivers this magnificent speech... :)

[FilmTrailersChannel]

Fry for Prime Minister, who's with me :)

[darkmater4tm]

The "poor songwriters" aren't hurt at all. In fact, being a small artist is more viable than it used to be, thanks to piracy.

It's just the major labels' ability to manipulate the industry that's hurt, causing them to loose money to smaller labels.

[EXetoC]

The industry will never change. The whole monetary system is shit

[Lowbacca1977]

For anyone else in the US trying to get there hands on QI, I've been able to buy them through Dvd.co.uk, as they do ship internationally. No benefit to me if you use that, just helping anyone else trying to find international shipping for DVDs. There are also ways to make DVD players unlocked. VLC player will allow a computer to play region free as well, and is free.

[TranceScotland]

@Lowbacca1977 you can download british progammes at thebox.bz . It's dedicated to british programming only

[Lowbacca1977]

@TranceScotland Oh, I know thebox.bz well ;)

I'd still like to reward the shows I like when I can with my business, though.

[TranceScotland]

@Lowbacca1977 You can get them at thebox.bz , a tracker dedicated to british programming aslong as you don't mind becoming a "criminal" or a "pirate"

[Tridhos]

I agree with that, I have watched many video clips here on YouTube which have led me to discover a performer/performance that I was unaware of and which has resulted in me buying the original DVD.

[lindseywashere1010]

he speaks so well :)

[MikeEmery9]

The difference between stealing and downloading, is that stealing someone's car removes the car from their property. When downloading music, the first person still has the original.

[MistaMase102]

LONG LIVE THE PIRATE BAY! FREE STUFF FOR EVERYONE!!! LOL :D :D :D

[RelativelyHostile1]

I love the piracy add in the 'IT Crowd' lol :)

[ELuhn]

I'm American, and to be frank the only reason that I know who Stephen Fry is at all is because of the "criminal" posting of QI on YouTube. I would buy DVDs of QI -- I've tried to -- but it doesn't look like they'll ever be sold in America. So if these get taken down, how will it benefit the artists if no one outside the UK can see them at all?

[Craxblorg]

@ELuhn Exactly. I cannot find QI dvds that will ship to the states ANYWHERE. I cannot even change my DVD player region anymore because I've watched all of 2 British comedy dvds at some point. The entertainment industry is incredibly idiotic as an industry for actively refusing to adapt and expand their market and for cracking down on what often amounts to free publicity.

[ELuhn]

Trippynet's entire archive of Have I Got News For You has been wiped by MyVideoRights, who call themselves "monetization experts." ("Monetization" is newspeak for "being a money-grubbing asshole." So if you like HIGNFY, and would even buy DVDs of it if it were available, too bad. There aren't any. You can't see old episodes at all. This doesn't benefit the "little people" in any way. This isn't protecting the rights of artists, it's just hoarding.

[TranceScotland]

@ELuhn You can get them at thebox.bz , a tracker dedicated to british programming aslong as you don't mind becoming a "criminal" or a "pirate"

[god0fgod]

Patents and copyrights aren't property. They are legal cartels on ideas and information. You could say their existence has been disastrous to world economies. To believe that if there were no patents of copyrights no one would innovate is idiotic. In fact innovation would increase because businesses can't milk the same products year after year. Let's open up competition and supply, making goods cheaper and better for us all!

[jimmy2k4o]

they have a cheek to give us shit for downloading stuff actors singer etc get paid far too much anyway

[tziirkq]

@jimmy2k4o Everyone involved in the making of the things that are downloaded, from the writers to the chick working behind a desk taking phone calls, needs to get paid. Buy what you download if you like it, delete it if you don't. Downloading could be seen as a trial period.

[jimmy2k4o]

@tziirkq those people your talking about would work for the record company which owns the artist so they get plenty of money

[tziirkq]

@jimmy2k4o Secretaries don't get paid a whole lot. People who work in the warehouses, packing the releases into boxes, don't get paid a whole lot. Drivers who bring the CDs to the stores don't get paid a whole lot. The guys whose job it is to bring coffee to some asshole in a suit don't get paid a whole lot. Not everyone in the music / film / television industry is rolling in money. do you work in retail? If you do, I imagine the person who owns the store makes a lot of cash, so do you, too?

[jimmy2k4o]

@tziirkq then that is an issue of the companys not paying them enough not the companys not making enough which we both know the companys make loads so the guilt for their shit wages belongs with the board of the company not with the customer if i did pay for music it wouldn't help those people would just make the rich richer "ask me to sign a petition to stop this i'll sign it hold a vote on it and vote for it but what i won't do is play ball" Mr Pink

[bladerunner12]

Thumbs up for Fry referencing the show 24 :P

[TheYorkMan]

And, as an aside..... Most 'popular' musicians today make most of their money through touring/live performances and merchandising. The actual retail sales revenue of singles/albums is relatively minor.

20000 people at an average of say £50 a ticket......

[TheYorkMan]

The problem for me, being of an 'older' generation, is that I've paid to own films/music on older formats. I have a large collection of vinyl, but it's a lot more convenient with technology to have them on a portable player, which I can tranpose between home/car/work etc. However, the 'industry' says if I want to be able to do that I've got to spend more money buying something I've paid for before (and on which the record company is likely to have garnered a significant profit from).

[Sidowse]

Ironically that irritating commercial is mostly only on legal copies.

[Hermy1138]

I love stephen fry to death. I consider turning gay for his sake...ok maybe not, but I really don't agree with him here. Thumbs up never the less

[aarandir]

@Hermy1138 Why?

[EnglishCanary]

@Hermy1138 Decision and estimation stimulates a free market, it always has. Priced digitilised music is forever minimalising the bracket for upcoming musicians via price ups, and consolodates only the upper end of the industry. Fry is entirely right.

Upcoming sects of music aren't deabilitated by piracy at all. The ascent of live attendance has been bafflingly astronomical, and economically just as beneficial.

Only elitism is deprived (mildly at that) by piracy. Not music itself.

[EnglishCanary]

@EnglishCanary Same goes for films and books.

[hfkry]

I love how he says "I'm not sure I'm right" at 6:01. it shows a kind of humility that only an intellectual like Mr Fry can posses.

[EnglishCanary]

@hfkry Socrates would be proud.

[sandeepsampath1985]

They say "piracy via internet is killing creative art n artists" has anyone bothered to see how much free publicity these artists get for a job well done??? Their songs r boosted to fame thanks to the internet and the people who download from it....(legal or othrwise)

Go STEVE!!! we love u....

Regards-The common man

[Nikronius]

Very well articulated speech. And above that, i totally agree.

[djtimelord]

Fuck copyright mafia! kill them all!

[SeanTheOriginal]

When a company has something readily available for people to buy, I can see why they'd complain about piracy, even though I think it's bullshit to whine about it, but I understand. But when you can't buy what you're looking for, pirating is fair-game at that point. Example, anything from the BBC. Americans can not watch ANYTHING on the BCC websites or even their Youtube channel. So since they're such cunts about it, I WILL pirate anything I can to be able to see it.

[squeezycheeseypeas]

He has managed to articulate my thoughts precisely.

[matchbox555]

this guy is such an asshole

thumb down

[Mathewmartialart]

@matchbox555 and your reason behind this?

[emperornathan]

@matchbox555

In what way could he possibly been seen as an asshole? I couldn't even fathom how you came to that conclusion.

To be honest I'm fairly sure this is just trolling at it's laziest.

[blueboyblue]

I don't think the problem is the artists, I think the problem is Middle Men.

As an example the Record Labels and distributors, they are quickly becoming irrelevant, and are scared to to death that they are going to lose their cash cow.

Why do we need record producers when any kid with a computer can easily build a home recording studio, make and distribute their own music.

The men with money & power are quickly becoming dinosaurs, and they don't like it. On the other hand, the people do.

[Rora989]

I can see why him and douglas admas got along well. they both seem to be like minded

[EddieTheFishReturns]

Yet another sensible view. Solid bloke, Stephen Fry, very solid indeed.

[shimauma]

I torrented an audiobook copy of The Liar before I bought The Liar, The Hippopotamus, Revenge/The Star's Tennis Balls, and Making History, all of which I loved. Just a little anecdote. ... not even that really, a pointless comment (and submit)

[TT99976]

He's such a fucking awesome guy. He couldn't be more spot on.

[HomingMissiles]

I've just realized that the internets were responsible for bringing to my knowledge 99% of the things I've ever passionately enjoyed (games, music, movies etc). Without it, I would have been stuck in a trenchful of shitty disposable cultural commodities I could never care about. It'd suck bigtime.

[Rockrgrl350]

I completely agree with him that these companies are outrageously aggressive with this copyright crap and we see it every day here on Youtube. You find a video you'd like to watch, click the link, and suddenly come to a page that says "This video has been removed for copyright infringement." So angering.

[umusuuk]

I love the bit about "the anti-piracy ad in every /fucking/ DVD".

[TheYellag]

0 People like the Copyright Advert

[TheHawkdaddy]

Thou shall not question Stephen Fry

[FeZ0r]

@TheHawkdaddy Though shalt not watch Hollyoaks ;)

[Ansuzie]

And then of course, I've legally bought some music, listening to it I think "That would sound great with clips from Doctor Who" or whatever and I make a funny well edited video (this is yet to happen but you know what I mean) and then find that the audio has been blocked by WMG.

[Ansuzie]

I have torrented anything to see it before other people. I can wait. But the problem I find is when I want to watch an old TV program through just once to remind myself what happened. Like Charmed and Stargate, but I don't want to payout hundreds on all 10 series for something I only want to see once and will clog up my DVD cupboard.

[RMoribayashi]

It's becoming a technology war. New Anti-piracy schemes appear and the hard core hackers break it. The masses get a hold of it and for a time it gets easier to download. Flooding cyberspace with fakes, encryption and DRM failed. Now they have software that searches by content. Now it's a race to get a file before it's gone. But you can still find the hottest songs because they get posted faster than they can be taken down.

[428odin]

I stopped buying DVDs because of those piracy warning, If i spend £20 on a DVD i don't need nor want some twat trying to intimidating me with jail time and comparing me to a car thief!

The great thing with illegal downloading is you don't have to sit through that nonsense, it's a win win!

[philmkim]

@428odin You and Dara Ó Briain both :)

[ninjatoothpaste]

Steam is an example to follow, I got 22 games that I've loved for years now for £50, before steam I pirated EVERY GAME I EVER GOT BECAUSE I'M POOR!

[sniffy45]

if its good peopel buy if it sucks liek most music and movies made these days then people wont buy. The torrents give the "fucking consumer" that protection, yes, from being ripped off by the industry over and over, fuck you hollywood

[neverfearchrisishere]

ofcourse he said that piracy is ok, he admitted to being a pirate. and that's no better than a person who steals a baby on the street.

[skyfrog696969]

the whole world is going down hill, power crazy politicians and Bank Managers and large companies are all completely dissrespcting human rights and generally fucking up the whole world.

[atomicmrpelly]

True dat.

[deadblissco]

The problem is, record companies judge an artist's worth by how much they sell. If an artist doesn't make the company enough money, they'll drop them. I don't really think Lily Allen and those of her ilk are genuinely draconian, she's just worried that money-hungry record companies will drop perfectly good bands because they haven't made them enough money. Record companies need to stop being so power-hungry and judge bands on their artisitic merit. I agree with Stephen Fry generally though =]

[ChrizzeeB]

he's an intelligent man, but he needs to allow economics to inform his arguments...

It's a little naive to say that only poor students download music when they can afford to better. If it's free and hassle free, people will take it. It costs relatively nothing to make a hit song. One live concert would cover it hundreds of times over. Popstars don't need the consumers money so fans shouldn't feel morally obliged to support their extravagant living.

[sharkey4123]

@ChrizzeeB

I'm pretty sure that the student was only an example of one type of person who may download media illegally.

[Uchyiamada]

Respect to Mr Fry! Intelligent and colorful speech.

[noirgris0]

Illegal downloading will not end,hackers are just too clever,they will always get around the obstacle, The entertainment industries will have to figure out some way to adapt or they will sink,i have no sympathy for their arguments

[graeme2804]

file sharing should not be illegal - fact.

[pedroosimoes]

@noirgris0 mininova as ended... piratebay as won an war but not the battle.... i think illegal downloading will end, but it will be more easy to pay for products in the future

[TheYazoo321]

@noirgris0 well said

[TheYazoo321]

go steven

[Quersaken]

Stephen Fry is full of crap

[atthepistol]

Fry isn't right here in my opinion. Yes, I'm a student and yes I'm struggling for cash but that doesn't mean you can rip off the artist. When someone makes a film, they are given a certain amount of money to spend on it so if we just take it from them, then there will be no industry for it. Its the same with music.

[Quersaken]

Agreed

[deanownzu]

yea. $30million to make a film, with half of that going towards salaries that reaps in $120million within the first week is a real shame. or maybe... if they reduced the prices of tickets, $1 per cinema viewing, more people would see films. and maybe if they released them straight onto downloads at home for $1 to keep it wouldnt be so bad.

[atthepistol]

Why are you talking in dollars when your from the UK?

It doesen't work like that anyway. A cinema needs looking after. Cleaners, people selling food, ticket handlers etc. £1 won't cover their wages. It's also bad for the economy. And film company's spend those large sums of money making them with the best CGI and explosions... knowing they will make their money back. The quality of a film that costs £1 to see would be awful. Also, don't give me a thumbs down. Speak to me.

[Kijinn]

@atthepistol

I don't agree with your view. Expensive CGI are a nice feature & important for fantastic fictional movies. But they are not a requirement for a good movie.

The big problem is that the movie industry went insane on how to share its profits. The sums that actors, directors and producers make from a single successful movie are out of proportion, by miles. But they take it for granted. Like it is what they "deserve" for their work. And there is no institution to verify their claims.

[atthepistol]

@Kijinn True, the amount they are payed is ridiculous in the cases of Hollywood films. . . My main problem is when it comes to the music industry. How do you feel about taking free music? I'm not sure there is much of an argument for illegally downloaded music.

[Kijinn]

@atthepistol

Not so sure about that. Rather seems to be the same imbalance as with movies. Some artists & producers become insanely rich...and greedy, to go along with it. No one has the impression that Lady Gaga or Eminem are "suffering" from music piracy, right?

In music & movies, it must be small, independent artists who'd suffer from privacy. Then again, those need the advertisement that piracy is. The more people download their material, the better they get known = the richer they get.

[Kijinn]

@atthepistol

I think you'd have a very hard time, to find an artist whose music was downloaded a lot, who does not get rich in the process. Because, Fry is correct. Most people still buy a lot of the music they like.

Regarding music, the internet just became a substitute to what the radio+tape did in the 60s to 90s. Most people simply taped the music they liked directly from the radio. The music industry didn't die back then. It won't die now.

It just needs to adapt to the changes of time, IMO

[atthepistol]

@Kijinn True, the amount they are payed is ridiculous in the cases of Hollywood films. . . My main problem is when it comes to the music industry. How do you feel about taking free music? I'm not sure there is much of an argument for illegally downloaded music.

[Kijinn]

@atthepistol

Sorry...Just found this and had to share it...

IMDb - Trivia:

"After its release "Ink" (2009) became the most downloaded movie in file sharing torrent sites more accurately 400,000 times in a single week and exposed the film to a large audience, leading to higher DVD and Blu-ray sales in return. The independent filmmakers wrote in their newsletter that they had "embraced the piracy" and are "happy Ink is getting unprecedented exposure."

A nice example.

[bumblywumblybee]

I (illegaly, i suppose) downloaded extracts from his audiobook version of Moab is my Washpot, his autobiography, because it is my favourite book.

Nice to know he see's where i'm coming from :)

[atthepistol]

What is this from?

[jagdwurstmadl]

it's from his latest podcast (available on itunes for FREE)

[Espherian]

3 Cheers for Mr. Fry! He's so right - and any artist that startings making music or any other kind of artwork just to get financially rich doesn't deserve to have their crap bought in the first place IMO. Of course, let's support the good ones, but everyone knows most of the cost of a CD goes to the record companies anyway, who in turn do very little for the artists that don't "conform" to what they think would sell.

[mctmct1987]

Stephen Fry is right again. It's so nice to have well known people like Stephen who actually think stuff through and talk sense in the otherwise money focussed cowboy world of record companies.

[Aerial53]

good point Stephen ! clever as always :)