Futurama’s Anti-Piracy Message, Just Do It
Written by enigmax on October 31, 2008The latest Futurama movie, Bender’s Game, is released in a few days and as usual it’s already on BitTorrent. However, Matt Groening has included a nice extra on the DVD - a pretty amusing parody on one of the classic anti-piracy messages.
Anyone who watched The Simpsons Movie will have noticed Bart in the intro chalking his famous blackboard with the words “I will not illegally download this movie”. Matt Groening seems to appreciate the comedy anti-piracy message as his latest movie, ‘Futurama: Bender’s Game‘, also includes some mockery of file-sharers or, on closer inspection, possibly some encouragement. Whatever the intention, it is pretty funny.
The movie, the third in the Futurama series and due for release in a few days time, has already leaked to BitTorrent. This is nothing new, but hidden away in the DVD extras is a parody of the infamous movie industry anti-piracy ad, which was previously parodied by the IT Crowd.
Entitled ‘Downloading Often Is Terrible’ or D.O. I.T for short, the animated advert follows the familiar “You wouldn’t steal…” structure, but with more unusual content. Whatever the ad suggests that Bender wouldn’t steal or do, is followed up by Bender doing just that, starting with “You wouldn’t steal a spaceship”, which of course, Bender would, along with lots of other amusing things.
Although Bender is stealing physical objects in his 2D animated world, lots of people disagree with the use of the word ’steal’ to describe the act of copyright infringement. Australian lawyer Brendan Scott certainly doesn’t believe it. When someone downloads movies or music illegally, they make a copy, he argues. The original is still there, and legally speaking nothing is stolen. Scott concludes: “To use the infringement-as-stealing meme demonstrates something of a lack of respect for language and consequently a lack of respect for the people to whom you are speaking.”
But maybe Bender himself provides the truth. The copyright lobbies often paint the fight against piracy as a “matter of life and death” so it seems fitting to utilize the phrase to illustrate the chasm between stealing and copying. Having watched the clip and noted the final stolen item produced from Bender’s chest, I immediately thought about where that came from, the state of the gentleman in question, and where I could find him for a chat.
Because if anyone in the world knows the difference between copying and stealing, it’s got to be him. Or Lucy Liu’s milliner. Enjoy the clip.
If you go back 3 months on YouTube, it appears that even this parody got leaked ahead of time. Cammed too, you couldn’t make it up.
Previously: Chinese State Bans Video Sites, Huge eDonkey Site Survives
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49 Responses
I still think this anti piracy ad from the IT crowd is a classic.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d82Lq2rVB_4
Even the people in the industry know how comical the MAFIAA are.
hahaha good on em
the more the better!
Benders penis is very big.
Not bad. Since this is released by Fox I’m sure they’re against filesharing but even so I found this to be amusing. It’s best to play nice with Pirates because when you consider the alternative it makes more sense.
Offending pirates is like pissing off an angry mob which can result in a massive protest of your product. Ultimately it’s just not worth it because they’re going to download your material whatever your stance on the issue.
Yeah - nothing can beat the it crowd clip
Hahahhahahah
Clip was very funny :P
But still i will keep downloading :)
If i don’t download movies, what should i do after work :P ?
Of course nothing excepting watching some good Movies :)
IT crowd season 3 coming soon
Glad my tip could help! If you’d like the clip, here’s an Xvid rip of it http://www.sendspace.com/file/gj5mql
@7 you little pedofile, it was child p0rn. i hope you get b& from torrentfreak!
Pirates are poor people, they at the bottom of society. We don’t need people like pirates that illegally downloads criminal copies of illegal piracy movies on the internet.
It would be good if there was death penalty for pirates, so you can execute them!
@8 Anonymous
You fucking idiot, i almost reported it to the authoreties.
What sick fucking mind do you have?
I hope you fucking die! You are fucked up!
as if being poor was insulting.
nah
Actually, what’s insulting is stupidity like yours.
dont feed the troll
I love Bender!
At least they got part of the idea right on the fact that “P2P and other downloading are not stealing.” The other half is the fact that for people to see works is actually useful and not just “leeching” because then those people can actually do things with it and make/do something useful out of what they have seen. The fact is that works do have a purpose other than just money, so that when people see it, people are not just leeching, but rather gaining some capacity to make works themselves. Culture is not just a system where the “creators” just appeal to an “audience,” but rather one where the audience also responds back to the creators by their own creations or actions. At least, this is what culture would become without copyright, but unfortunately, any culture of “response” is currently not here (i. e. people are not responding in big enough volumes to consider it a “culture”) due to copyright.
Roze
http://www.10ch.org/
Meh. F**k the pirates.
M@
@8
I downloaded it and found it to be exactly what Geoff declared it to be.
@14
No, you got it wrong. It is f**k the IFPI, MPAA, RIAA, and other organizations/groups.
@15
You shouldn’t have downloaded it anyways if you suspect it to be as it was.
Roze
LOL, Futurama totally ROCKS!
Jiff
http://www.anonymity.cz.tc
@9: MAFIAAtard.
hahaha good on em the more the better!
Hmmm, gotta get that movie now!
Respect!
I’m not poor, I’m not mega-rich by any means but I earn way above the average wage each year.
HAVENT BOUGHT A cd OR PAID FOR A MOVBIE IN ANY WAY FOR WHAT… 10 YEARS?
fUCK THEM, IF i CAN STEAL IT i WILL, THEY CAN TRY TO STOP ME!
Fuck The Pirate Bay and all who ride in her!
:D
I’ve been waiting for 2 months for this movie to hit TPB.
I guess I will DOIT.
pirates are fags
Personally I will be purchasing the video since sales will determine whether FOX will pick up the show again.
trolls still parading their lies, dont feed them its funny watching them try(soon theyll be asking for a license fee for their comments/entertainment).
Bender made me laugh and after already seeing this 2 days ago I think I’ll buy this when it comes out on dvd near me. Though its nowhere near as funny as benders big score.
enigmax, to use the filesharing-as-piracy theme demonstrates something of a lack of respect for language and consequently a lack of respect for the people to whom you are speaking
piracy is the illegal manufacture and sale of conterfeit products. piracy is stealing revenue which belongs to the copyright holder, piracy is stealing
filesharing is not piracy, filesharing is copying
http://www.h33t.com
@26
Well, I think “paying it forward” is better than “paying it backward” in the case of file-sharing. Rather than giving money back to the creator as compensation, I think that it is better to “give to everyone else” as compensation by creating one’s own work in response to their work. Do you know what I mean?
Roze
My name says it all. I love futurama
p2ping is NOT stealing
@30 p2ping is WORSE than stealing
downloading this movie and much more,P2P 4 ever
“enigmax, to use the filesharing-as-piracy theme demonstrates something of a lack of respect for language and consequently a lack of respect for the people to whom you are speaking”
piracy is copyright infringement.
You show a lack of respect with your “No! I’m gonna take words and change their meaning and then get mad at the people who keep using the actual meaning!”.
Well, as far as I know, piracy meant being a pirate - and that was all.
Roze
Download this movie now. I hope its good.
bring back Futurama to t.v.
after 3 movies it should seem folks want to see it.
bring it back on t.v. already.
Ohhhhhh, HELL YEAH!!!
My wife and I have been taking the piss out of those “You wouldn’t steal” ads for so long that this is an absolute GEM of a clip.
Thanks, Bender.
IT crowd teached a lesson with that parody; stupid american cartels.
Far from criticizing P2P: I am a download junkie.
Anyway, technically speaking, downloading is illegal acquisition of information. The stealing is present, it is not of the information itself, but of the rights of the owner, most of the times the price of a CD, DVD, book, or of a “legal” download.
There are other reasons to defend P2P, for example free access to knowledge. The steal-copy thesis is not such a good shot.
@23
Go to hell Man…Heheh
Pirates are just thieves with delusions of grandeur.
@41: “IT crowd teached a lesson with that parody; stupid american cartels.”
————————————–
with grammar like that you have no business calling anyone stupid.
Alot of trolls on this thread.
Poor folk.
if bender says to do it… i’ll do it! :)
Well, if you’re living in a country where the cost of Original movies are way more than the MINIMUM WAGE, then Bittorent is a viable alternative.
A lot of things are way more than minimum wage. That doesn’t mean fast food workers are entitled to steal whatever they can’t afford.
>Scott concludes: “To use the >infringement-as-stealing meme >demonstrates something of a lack >of respect for language and >consequently a lack of respect for >the people to whom you are >speaking.”
Yeah, and this doofus has a lack of respect for other’s hard work.
Try your lawyer-spin on this one Scott:
Find out when your local bookstore is having a booksigning featuring the author of a new release. Go to the bookstore with a copy machine on a handcart.
Walk up to the table where the author is signing books, and grab a copy from the unsigned pile without paying him. Find a wall outlet, plug in your copy machine, and copy every page, making sure not to harm the book in any way. Then return it to the pile exactly where you got it, and tell the author, “Hey, thanks buddy, I really appreciate it!”
I’m sure that the author wouldn’t wouldn’t mind at all that you are reading two years of his hard work for free without his permission right?
You all have enough balls to steal over the internet… would you have enough balls to do it in front of the content creator’s face? I bet none of you would… and even if you did, you would get locked up before you made it to the parking lot… definitely for petty theft, and possibly for copyright infringement.
Funny how it is theft in person but all of a sudden when things go digital and distant you all think it is no problemo.
Scott the lawyer is an absolute joke. Copyright infringement is theft, because a copyright dictates who has a RIGHT to make a COPY, which none of you do BTW. Therefore you all are a bunch of petty theives… some of you too poor, some of you too cheap, some of you with delusions of granduer of “sticking it too the man”, and some of you just didn’t get taught no bettah by yo mommas.
I can see all of you going into art galleries with digital cameras and snapping photos of the paintings to print out and decorate your houses… just sad.
ill always download shit becuase piracy is the only thing that keeps me happy 87% of the time. i have no girlfrend to go to after school. i dont get to go places much. piracy is the only way to keep
after-school fun. or i could wait for parents to buy me games onece about every 3 months. about 17% of my PC games are legal copies.
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