>Unlike all of the aforementioned examples, I cannot go out and purchase the
>bloopers at Borders, Amazon, or thestation.com.
>I am left to no other option but to obtain and cherish the copy
>of the bootleg bloopers tape.
> I'm hopeful that
>they will be included on the DVDs, but if they're not, why is it wrong to
>want
>a copy for a personal collection?

Okay, so lets say I want your car, but you don't want to sell it to me. By the
logic above, it's okay for me to steal it, as long as I'm not making any money
out of it and it's for my own personal collection of cars.

These tapes were made for the cast and crew in-house as a special gift to them.
A way to have fun at the wrap parties. In that respect they are very personal
to all of us involved. To have people making copies and selling them illegally
is just to tarnish that aspect.

And you say you want a copy..but the means of GETTING that copy 90% of the time
means somebody selling somebody else a copy, at 20-35 bucks a pop. This goes
into the hands of a crook. There is no other word for it. A person who takes
what is not there, duplicates it illegally, and pockets all the money, none of
which goes to the creative people and actors who made them.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

There are all kinds of ways bloopers can get out...I did a presentation at a
con, and when I went to get the tape back, I found that the guy running the
video equipment was secretly making a dub as he was playing the tape. We had
words.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

>If they will never be sold legally then no profit has been lost by
>anyone. If they are shown to the public then they are not for close
>friends only. Put both together and nobody has been harmed in any way
>by their sale.

You're still not getting it.

You pay $30 bucks for a copy of the bloopers. To whom does that go? Does it
go to the actors, whose images you are looking at, who worked day and night to
create both the drama and the errors? No, it goes to a pirate.

Profit IS being made. And that profit by all rights belongs to the people who
worked hard to make it, not to the vultures out there who prey on both the
shows and the fans alike.

These people profit off something they never made, that they have no legal
right to, that they illegally obtained. That you do not have a problem with
that is profoundly astounding and disturbing.
jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

>The law does not regard unauthorized copying as theft. It is in many
>cases illegal, but that doesn't make it theft. There are lots of
>illegal actions that are not theft. Thus, the law does not suffer
>from this particular flaw.

I'd like to know where you found this, because as I read copyright law, this is
also covered by the term "theft of intellectual property."

And I'd love to see you make the argument to a cop, "Well, no, what I was doing
wasn't THEFT, it was just ILLEGAL, so that's okay." Any judge in any court in
the country would laugh you out of the box. >> For some reason, some people
seem to disregard the rights of artists
>> completely.
>
>Among these, the people who created the US constitution. Copyright
>law in the US exists to promote the progress of arts and science, not
>to protect the rights of the artists.

Not true. Writers and artists have fought for ages to maintain and enhance
copyright laws for their protection. One of the foremost figures was Mark
Twain, who was in a constant battle to ensure that the copyright laws were
adhered to and expanded to protect his works. (Among his best quotes, "Any
time a copyright law is to be made or revised, the idiots assemble.")

The sole means by which a writer can make money from his work is by protecting
the use thereof. This is part of the big battle on the net...creative works
are not "data" to be freely transmitted, they are the property of the person
who created it.

You are not entitled to copy it for sale or distribution to others. Period.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)