I'm not a big fan of Michael Moore's methods as a documentary maker, but I'm gaining much more respect for him as an artist since he's publicly encouraging the pirating of his movies. Quotes and story from Glasgow's The Sunday Herald:
The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded.
“I don’t agree with the copyright laws and I don’t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they’re not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that,” he said.
“I do well enough already and I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening.”
Link courtesy of Creative Commons.
Michael Moore is my Hero
This is great news. I was wondering what Moore thought of people downloading or copying his documentaries, especially when I still can't find a DVD of Bowling for Columbine for less than $14.
I just saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last weekend. Great film, but you could feel the tension in the theater. I honestly don't know who could possibly vote for Bush after watching this movie. Wait a minute. Yes I do. :-)
What was absolutely priceless was that they displayed several "JOIN THE ARMY" commercials before the movie.
On Moore and distribution
I had mixed reactions to the movie, but I still think that Moore's stance on the distribution of his film is a good one. He specifically talks about the armed forces sending their recruiters to go out and target the poor, but his message doesn't do a damned bit of good if the people that he is supposed to be talking to can't afford the 8-12 bucks that the movie ticket costs, right? What about the cost of the technology and the bandwith that is necessary to download, burn, and view the film is it is distributed on peer to peer networks? How about free showings for a week in the nation's poorest areas?
My unintentional blog post on the film is here: http://www.sla.purdue.edu/blackmon/blog/2004/07/fahrenheit-911.html
sb
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Free Showings
Well, I think Moore's target audience for this film is pretty obviously those people who CAN afford an $8 movie ticket. They are the people who could theoretically make a difference for those who can't--assuming they'd support the right causes and politicians.
However, I wonder if Moore would be pleased to hear that people are interested in offering free public viewings of his films, and if he'd be able to clear permissions with his distributor for this purpose.
It wouldn't surprise me.
I would hate to think that Mo
I would hate to think that Moore didn't want his film to reach the people he positions as being wronged. If he is just looking out for those who can make a difference financially then he might be hitting his target audience at all, because I vote but I have yet to make a financial contribution. I know plenty of poor folks (those who can't afford an $8 ticket or see it as too much of a sacrifice) who do vote, don't they count??
sb
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