Michael Moore on Slacker Uprising’s Piracy ‘Problem’
Written by Ernesto on October 06, 2008Michael Moore decided to give away his latest film ‘Slacker Uprising’ for free, but only to people in the US and Canada. However, since he chose to use BitTorrent, and open trackers such as The Pirate Bay, it was fairly easy for the rest of the world to download it as well. Was this done on purpose? Moore responds.
Like many other filmmakers, Moore wants his film to be seen by as many people as possible. However, the ‘rights holders’ have other interests. They want to sell the movie to as many people as possible, making sure they get every penny they are entitled to.
Moore’s latest documentary, Slacker Uprising, is only available for free in Northern America. People who attempt to download the torrent elsewhere get this annoying “Sorry” message. Since there are no geographical restrictions on the official torrent file, however, it was easy to share the film with the rest of the world. It would only take one person to upload the torrent to another site, and the rest of the world would have access to it. That’s exactly what happened.
In last week’s article, we asked the question: “Is this deliberate, or accidental?” Since it is so easy to share the documentary with people outside the US and Canada, we hinted that this might have been done on purpose. A few days later, Michael Moore contacted us, with a direct response to the question we posed.
“What do you think I’m up to? I know it may not be obvious to most, but I think you guys get it,” Moore wrote to us. “I only own the US and Canadian rights. So my hands are tied. But this is the 21st century. What are ‘geographical rights’ ?” Moore continued. “I’ll say it for the hundredth time: If I buy a book and read it, and then give you the book to read, I have broken no laws. Why is that not true for all media?”
“I wish someone would figure out what I am up to,” he concluded. We believe many people have by now. This isn’t the first time Moore has clashed with the ‘rights holders’ of one of his own films. Last year The Weinstein Co. went after websites that hosted “Sicko”, while Moore publicly said that it was ok for people to download his movie illegally. “I’m not a big believer in our copyright laws. I think they’re way too restrictive,” he said at the time.
Even further back, in 2004, Moore also backed the people who downloaded his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. “The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening, he said. “Is it wrong for someone who’s bought a film on DVD to let a friend watch it for free? Of course it’s not. It never has been and never will be. I think information, art and ideas should be shared.”
Perhaps it’s time to do a documentary on the anti-piracy and pro-copyright lobby Mr. Moore? They might not kill our children in the US or overseas, but they do kill creativity, innovation, and the spread of knowledge. Worth looking into.
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66 Responses
so it deliberatly done in a non deliberate way.
smart
michael moore is the best actor ever
bowling for columbine ROCKzSz.
i need a toilet
Michael Moore is either very stupid or very clever.. i’d say the latter
very nice Michael Moore,
I wish the rest of the USA were open mined as you..
unfortenitly they are not.
i did seen sicko, and i must say, that is one smart and direct person. but i guess USA people dont like to face truth in the eyes. and about columbine, i did seen one documentary few times, but not his.
if you read this, mr. Moore, thank you for your movies, they are certainly not waste of time like other big money blockbuster that are so pointless that it hurts. thank you again, your work is appreciated.
forgot to add: but not his, YET! ;)
#5 I really think it is a matter of Americans not being informed on the issue as opposed to being closed minded.
All the more reason for someone like Moore to do a docu on the topic. :)
If releasing Slacker Uprising was just an experiment it would explain some things. It was not really all that informative; especially compared to his other documentaries.
Perhaps Michael Moore can really challenge this by having his own website, and daring the rights holders to sue him.
Roze
http://www.28chan.org/fs/ <- File-sharing discussion board
I mean, by having his own website to host the film.
i would defiantly see a documentary made by him about piracy in theaters
not a big moore fan, but this is pretty cool.
put your money where your mouth is Mr Michael Moore
i understand you gotta get in bed with them, just make sure you fuk them in the ass and they know it
http://www.h33t.com where we live this shit
What #10 said – that would be rather groovy. =]
Saying that, I have to reiterate that ‘Slacker Uprising’ was probably Moore’s least informative documentary yet. All it showed was that at the last US election, the slackers he targeted stayed true to form, failed to vote & gave Dubya the win (again).
My shout out to all decent Merkins: Get those right-wing NeoCon fuKKKtards out of office & VOTE at the upcoming election, FFS!
*cough*
#11, not #10
*cough*
(I hate it when the comments get renumbered mid-post…)
Why doesn’t Moore just publish his own work? or have two different versions, one free that can be downloaded, and one with naked chics and swear words for theater.
I hope he doesn’t make any more docs out floor clippings again.
On another note, I wish Moore would figure out what’s up to.
I hate the man’s films.
That said, he may be one of my best friends. Go Moore, tell those bastards that art is meant to be shared!
Moore is awesome he has been doing great work since the awful truth series(which i also dled).
Understanding trumps ignorance weeeeeeeeeeee……
Michael Moore is a fat piece of shit, mark my words this is just a fucking PR stunt.
Some of Moore’s best work was on his old TV show “The Awful Truth”. You can find season 1-2 on TPB right now and I’m pulling a good 50-100K/s on season 1.
S1E09 has a hilarious “sniper school for kids” skit. You’ll piss yourself. The skit where Hitler tries to get his monies back from the Swiss banks is LOL too.
I liked the “buy a book, give it to your friend” analogy, but there is one fatal flaw in it. If I buy the book and make a copy of it to give to you, then the law has been broken.
Not saying whether that is right or wrong, just an observation on the convenience of the analogy.
Right on, Moore
“so it deliberatly done in a non deliberate way.
smart”
/agree
michael moore is a badass
@21
Law was not the issue. Morality was the issue.
“I liked the “buy a book, give it to your friend” analogy, but there is one fatal flaw in it. If I buy the book and make a copy of it to give to you, then the law has been broken.
Not saying whether that is right or wrong, just an observation on the convenience of the analogy.”
You then need to say it’s stealing to read someone else’s book, or glance at a newspaper.
@29
29 said:
“If I buy the book and make a copy of it to give to you, then the law has been broken.”
————————————-
Are you imbecile or what?
ALL the people (without exception) in this world have made copies from DVDs, audio CDs, LPs (vinyl), audio tapes, video tapes, books, etc. and given as a gift to friends, parents, family, etc.
In your RIDICULOUS logic ALL the people in this world should be in jail, right?
Get a real job, asshole.
@30 (Dingo_RG) – #29 was actually quoting #21 who was merely pointing out that current (US) law states that copying a book for someone is a crime.
You raise a good point tho, perhaps with copyright law alone almost everyone in the US is now a criminal. This includes the people who write and uphold those same laws.
Ridiculous as it may be, it is true.
copying a book is more expensive then actually buying a book…
This article fits nicely on 1 word doc. page. Thank you very much will be perfect for my English Assignment…
p.s I love Mr more even Moore now!
crap film, sick of hearing about it tbh
Michael Moore is a very special film maker to me, because we seem to have the same opinion on almost everything. To see that he really agrees on this is even mo(o)re interesting.
And a Micael Moore documentary on copyright and “piracy” would be one of the best things ever!
“ALL the people (without exception) in this world…”
Bullcrap. Some people have got more immediate things to worry about like collecting grass to eat and walking 10 miles to fetch water.
Fairy snuff.
it all comes down to the dollar…they want to prie everything from information to water…once u understand the dollar you understand the world
If you are interested into Copyright and Free Culture you have to see this presentation from Lawrence Lessig!!!
http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/free.html
Joao
http://joao.hamala.pt
/not to mention buying a book and making thousands of copies and handing them out for free to anyone who wants one.
Remember, he probably did not have enough money to underwrite all of the film’s production costs himself. Which means he would have needed financing. Which means promises and deals have to be made. Which probably led to the situation where he does not own complete worldwide distribution rights.
Now think it through.
I’m worried 8 out of ten of my neigbors took down their Obama yard signs, what do we do NOW Two of them told me it was because of all the money He and joe took from the fannie’s & and freddie’s demorcrat scandal Please help me here In Oregon How do we recover from this fiascoe?
How are we going to regain momentum after all the scandal. I know it may be too late but I think we really need Hillary to pull this thing back together. We pick our guy Obama but now every time i see him he looks nervous its almost makes me think hes hiding something? Please help me put these fears to rest! when will it stop?
LOL, Michael Moore is a Turd. He even looks like a Turd.
Lisa
http://www.anonweb.eu.tc
Michael Moore youre Fuckin Awesome
Your post (& you yourself, probably) smells like a turd…
I like Michael Moore.
This is good on his part.
@39 I’m afraid the democrats aren’t going to be any better.
As of 2008-10-07 16:00 GMT, ‘Slacker Uprising’ was downloaded 81,805 times on bittorrent.
Moore for president!
He says that it should be the same as reading a book and giving it to a friend, but do you give the file over when your done or just let some one copy it?
Kelland, take your republican propaganda elsewhere.
Yeah, he’s a good actor indeed. Who cares if he’s right or wrong
Well my respect for Mr. Moore just improves, I might not agree with his way of telling people what he thinks all the time but I can’t really say I disagree with him.
Keep up the good work Mr. Moore!
Great post by the way torrentfreak ;)
“Are you imbecile or what?
ALL the people (without exception) in this world have made copies from DVDs, audio CDs, LPs (vinyl), audio tapes, video tapes, books, etc. and given as a gift to friends, parents, family, etc.
In your RIDICULOUS logic ALL the people in this world should be in jail, right?
Get a real job, asshole.”
Um… He didn’t say they should be in jail. He said that what they are doing is illegal. He’s right. That doesn’t make it wrong, but it is illegal, if you care about legal vs illegal.
Usually I don’t like Michael Moore or the way he tries to convey his messages, but it’s nice to see he is fairly sensible when it comes to filesharing.
I thot the world of this guy, until he came to our campus to speak. He demanded a limo, “suite”-accomodations, and the use of serveral “assistants” (mainly guides to walk this doofus from one place to the next). Plus his pretty damn big fee.
He knows how to play the game – this guy is a multi-millionare, yet pretends he is still “common” — unless you don’t get him the right transportation.
While I agree with Michael Moore, I can see why people would oppose it too. Of course it’s free to let a friend watch one of your DVDs because the assumption is that you went out and paid for that DVD. However, putting a movie on BitTorrent allows anyone to easily acquire the movie for free. I wonder how Michael Moore expects to make a living if he gives his movies away for free.
he is full of sh*t.
He twist facts, change everything to suit his agenda.
I think that ideas are free. Piracy doesn’t restrict innovation or creativity. Maybe someone else, could do better things with a innovation than original creator.
WTG Mr. Moore!
I don’t think this is a good analogy:
“If I buy a book and read it, and then give you the book to read, I have broken no laws. Why is that not true for all media?”
File sharing is more like buying a book and then photocopying it for your friend; Both people retain a copy. In his example, that is not so.
Just sayin…
You’re missing the point Alex, and welcome to the digital world.
Person A: (bought book, read it, gave it to person B.)
Person B: (read it, gave it to person C.)
Person C: (read it, gave it to person D.)
Person D. (read it, as the book burst into flames.)
As you can see, it doesn’t really matter how many copies there are.
I’d find his opinions on copyright much more genuine if he had voiced them before making his millions…
60 Oct 07, 2008 at 20:43 by Eric
“However, putting a movie on BitTorrent allows anyone to easily acquire the movie for free. I wonder how Michael Moore expects to make a living if he gives his movies away for free.”
there is a slight difference in what you said. you can give something totally for free, or give it with option for customers to buy it.
second, how to make living? NiN? Paulo Coelho? does that ring a bell?
but you are only one of two possible persons
1. moral preacher without knowledge background, aka ignorant
2. payed for starting same old stuff on p2p blog all the time running in circles
either way…. you get the point.
Um, no if I read a book and give it to you, only one copy of that book exists. If i share a movie on the net, I still have that movie and now two copies (at least) exist.
This is typical of Michael Moore’s logic. He goes after the right subjects but does so in a very sloppy and inaccurate way.
You’re missing the point moi, and welcome to the digital world.
Person A: (bought movie, watched it, gave it to person B, C, D, deleted it.)
Person B: (watched it, deleted it.)
Person C: (watched it, deleted it.)
Person D. (watched it, as his computer burst into flames.)
As you can see, it doesn’t really matter how many copies there are.
is a propagandist who firmly believes he is justified in lying to and manipulating audiences to think what he wants them to think. He feels his message is so important that it doesn’t matter if the details in his documentaries are wrong or made up: as long as he presents a convincing argument for the viewpoint that he believes to be true, he has done the world a service. By this point you’re probably assuming I am a Conservative and that I disagree with him, but you’re wrong, I’m not. I just don’t like liars. Don’t be manipulated by emotional documentaries. Don’t rely on information that’s been easily digested for you by a filmmaker. Go to primary sources, look at statistics and data — think for yourself.
While i totally applaude his move the book analogy doesn’t seem to quite hold up because if you read a book then give it to someone else to read (or borrow) then you no longer have the book, with files you can copyy infinitely. Anywho, I think US copyright laws are outdated at best and draconian at worst. Kudos Mike!
re: post 69.
You assume that people delete files before passing them on.
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