Donald Duck, copyright maximalist
Branko sez,
Link (Thanks, Branko!)A reader of the FOK blog noticed that a comic in the Dutch "Donald Duck" magazine is a bit too close for comfort to the rhetoric typically spouted by the local (Disney-sponsored) MPAA office, Brein. In a story that sees Donald Duck trying to sell illegal copies of a music CD, only to be thwarted in the end by Scrooge McDuck, the nephews explain their reasons for wanting to buy the expensive (30 dollar!), non-pirated CD: "But that's not fair! This CD is COPYRIGHTED! If nobody would buy CDs anymore, the record companies and artists would become beggars!"
Considering that the record company is owned by Scrooge McDuck, and considering typical industry practice, you have to wonder if the artists aren't already beggars. Meanwhile, Donald Duck's editor-in-chief has stated that the tone of voice of this particular comic is indeed atypical for the magazine, but has also denied any Brein involvement.
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Not the first time Disney has pulled this sort of thing.
Some years ago, "The Proud Family" (a Disney animated series on the Disney Channel) ripped off The Matrix while pontificating on how downloading music will drive nice little old record store owners out of business.
See http://www.linux.com/articles/18257 for some details.
Ugh. Here in Belgium we've got an outrageous anti-piracy ad in the streets at the moment - 'Would you put her life in danger?' ( http://namaak.be/faq ). Just one gem from the faq (translated from Dutch):
"You should not forget that the purchase of pirate products that seem innocent (textiles, perfume, ...) is equal to the financing of maffia-networks that will reinvest in dangerous products (drugs, ...) as well as in terrorist networks (see the London attacks of July 2005)."
It actually says 'is equal to'... and the ad is financed by the Customs agency.
"Would you put her life in danger?" seems like the perfect reason to pimp the anti-piracy warning from "The IT Crowd":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbX1aMajow
Drugs ... another vicitmless crime. Good comparison to make, even if they didn't intend to.
Aside from that: Cory, how is the sale of pirated CDs and DVDs doing in this day and age when people can get them for free from the internet rather than having to pay the pirates?
At least bootleggers are, from what I hear, suffering from having their products shamelessly copied all over the internet. *G*
But that's not fair! If nobody would buy counterfeit CDs anymore, the mafiosi and terrorists would become beggars! Oh, wait, no, they wouldn't. Only record companies are that incompetent.