Pirating media is considered stealing. Download a free song and you're taking money out of a struggling artist's pocket. Pirate a movie and you've now deprived the actor, the producers, and the script writer of money they were surely going to use to build schools in Iceland (people don't know this, but Iceland doesn't have a single school. It's an entire nation with people who can't read or write. But they are really good at drawing. Bjork? Never written down a single lyric, she's just freestyling, that's why it sounds like the ramblings of an insane person.)
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| Yeah, that's the face and outfit of someone familiar with Tolstoy. Source. |
But forget online. There's been an epidemic of thievery since before the inception of the internet! There's probably a den of intellectual property thieves lurking in your neighborhood. Of course, I'm talking about LIBRARIES! Look at them, quietly giving away books for decades right in our own backyard. People go in, take the book, read it, and what compensation does the author or publishing company receive? NONE! These writers didn't slave away at their keyboards or typewriters, cultivating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, just to have their art casually thumbed through by homeless people for no compensation at all! I mean, I do, but that's different.
While the government wastes time and resources going after Mega Upload and Pirate Bay and other file-sharing websites, while ignoring facilitators of artistic injustice and often even sponsoring them. Where can we turn to when our own governments sanction and fund thieves? Have we really descended into complete lawlessness? I don't want lawlessness, I'm fragile.
What will happen when people realize they've been paying for books they could have gotten for free all along!?! Those little Mom and Pop shops like Amazon will be shut down, that's what! If everyone just "borrowed" books, JK Rowling would still be living out of her car.
Join me this Saturday...You're busy Saturday? Okay, can you do Tuesday at like 5:00? No? Okay, how about we make plans for three weeks from now? Can we protest then? How's your Wednesday look? Great. Join me on Wednesday in three weeks when I'll be protesting on behalf of writers rights outside of a library! Let's sink this pirate ship and get back to paying for entertainment like good, law abiding art lovers!
Here's some sign ideas:
- Libraries are Book Thieves
- Shame on Word Burglars
- I Say We Should Pay
- Pillage Villages, Not Books
- Librarians are Outlaws, Not Sexual Objects (that one is for people into the whole "sexy librarian" thing)
- "Please don't steal from me." in a word balloon over Anne Frank.
- The Only Word We Want Is "Justice".
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| NO! No, you f***ing pirates! Get out of here! This is a peaceful protest! Your counter protest and perverted signs are NOT welcome in our gentle community! I'd tell you all the source of this image but if I pirate the pirates, don't I win? |
By the way, if you're reading this for free, don't worry, it's not stealing, I'm giving this away for free (because you'd be really bad with money if you bought this nonsense). But if you looked this up in a library, I'll get you...then I'll probably give you a sweet foot massage because I hate confrontation.
If I say I read this at a library you will give me a foot massage? Oh I love foot massages so I must dig out the ol library card from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThey really so make such a fuss over the whole pirating thing.
I am disgusted. Down with libraries! However, any sexy librarians who are made redundant can come and work at my book store.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is there are possibly people this insane. But if someone did actually try to touch my library, they wouldn't have their hands for very long.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point here Pickle. I'm guessing that the idiot country that came up with the idea of these antipiracy lows is populated by illiterate assholes. The legislation didn't originate in Iceland.....
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I read a book about the history of rock and roll (don't worry, I bought it).
ReplyDeleteEarly in the history of recorded sound, there was controversy about records and such because it was believed it would cut back on sheet music sales.
Then radio was accused of ruining record sales.
Etc.
People always seem to manage to get rich, regardless of medium.
Artists should be poor anyway. Rich artists produce crap.
Pirating is soooo in, nowadays. I used to be a firm believer in financially supporting artists by buying the junk but at some point, I stopped caring.
ReplyDeleteSomali pirating, however, is bad, and need be dealt with.
I've never seen a sexy librarian in "real life" so until that changes, they will remain an enigma to mine eyes. I have only seen the type that eat children for lunch.
The "sexy librarian" is a myth more elusive than a chupacabra riding a Sasquatch fighting the Loch Ness monster using unicorns as swords. Do you really think someone who studies the Dewey Decimal System for 4 years is going to be all sexed up?
DeleteAgreed. I adore you (you are a lady, right?) for using Sasquatch instead of Yeti. You are the most coolest pickle-antelope hybrid blogger out there.
DeleteHahah but i have a right to a free library with at least one "late hours" day a week! It's one of the amendments, right? 2, maybe? "You have the right to bear arms..in your free and public library."
ReplyDeleteNow, what if you use the library computer lab to illegally download a Metallica CD? Is that double thievery??
ReplyDeleteWait a second here! Don't libraries have to buy the books the put on their shelves? They pay for the work (unless of course it is donated to them). So we shouldn't protest libraries. We should be protesting the crunchy granola types who use libraries instead of supporting mom and pop book stands.
ReplyDeleteNext Tuesday works well for me. I'll bring coffee - gourmet bookstore coffee that has far too many vowels in its name making it unpronounceable.
If I buy an album then distribute it to all my friends, are my friends in the wrong or am I? A: We are all wrong. First we must target the dealers then we'll move on to those who frequent the establishment (I.e. homeless people).
DeleteI think Bjork's outfit is the direct result of reading too much Kafka.
ReplyDeleteI never go to the library. I download books to Kindle. I'm hella fancy.
In honor of this post, I will dress up like a sexy librarian on Wednesday in 3 weeks and let Eddie spank me... like the bad little book thief I am.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Valerie
Speaking as a representative of a library, I'd like to say it's totally not stealing.
ReplyDelete*looks around shiftily*
The best protest would be for all of us to check out the maximum allowable books and just NOT TAKE THEM BACK! And then when the fees add up, we just won't pay! Oh...we all already do that anyways? Well, from now on, it will actually have some meaning then.
ReplyDeleteI'm way too lazy to go to the library. That is why I read blogs, which we don't get paid to write.
ReplyDeleteSigh...
I would protest but I'll be busy cooking rice that day, and I can't go near a library ever again. That's what my conscience says, anyway. There was a time, in my teens, that I let my friend steal from libraries. I am an awful person.
ReplyDelete