Culture & copyright: The odd couple!

Copyright was originally intended to balance the commercial interests of content producers with the cultural landscape of the people.

Thanks largely to Disney's copyright extension lobbying efforts, the scales have been tipped in favour of the content producers, with little ever released into the public domain.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. These are some examples of where culture and copyright interact, and sometimes, work together:

1. Spider-Man 2 Downloads
2. The Japanese Kill Bill Vol. 1
3. Anime Fansubs

Spidey saves the day Image © Sony Pictures Digital

1. Spider-Man 2 Downloads
A casual glance at any movie site will tell you that Spider-Man 2 is very popular. A glance at BitTorrent clearinghouse SuprNova will tell you the same thing.

People are watching Spider-Man 2 in record numbers: Both in theatres and via illegal downloads. Everyone knows that watching a crappy camcorder version of a movie is possibly the worst way to do it - So why does it happen?

Two reasons: Either the consumer can't afford a CAD$13.95 movie ticket, or they've seen it and no longer want to spend on something they can't take home.

If someone doesn't have enough money, fine. You can't take money from someone that doesn't have it. But what about people who've seen it on the big screen once, twice, three times and who intend to buy the DVD? It would be illegal for them to download a copy, but would it wrong?

So how can business take better advantage of the love people have for movies? How about sooner DVD releases - What if you could buy an official bare-bones, movie-only DVD for a small fee plus two theatre ticket proofs of purchase? Not only would those people buy the special feature-filled disc later on, it would service both the commercial and cultural interests. (Which is to say, giving potential consumers what they want when they want it.)

Kill Bill poster Image © Miramx Films

2. The Japanese Kill Bill Vol. 1
On Friday, I purchased the Japanese DVD version of Kill Bill Vol. 1... Or so I thought.

It turned out that local hipster video store Suspect Video has been selling Kill Bill bootlegs. (An email to Suspect was not responded to in time for this article.)

Presumably, someone got ahold of the official release, used a tool like DVDShrink to re-author the content onto two DVD-Rs (and remove the region coding), made copies of the label, and then sold them to video stores.

This is a problem. Because sometimes, bootlegs are good - consider the wealth of alternate studio sessions and live music that have become part of our culture thanks to creative piracy. Or, think of rare, out-of-print movies that studios would never re-release.

But Kill Bill is not rare. The uncensored Japanese version is not rare. You can buy it from YesAsia for CAD$50.60 right now. (With free shipping, no less.)

It's unfortunate that Miramax released such a lousy North American DVD. It may be that their poor efforts to appease cultural interests are to blame, but to me that's no excuse for selling and profiting off of a pirated current release.

UPDATE (2004-07-20):
Suspect Video allowed me to exchange the bootleg Kill Bill DVD for store credit, which I put towards Spider-Man: The '67 Collection.

Edward wants you to buy the US DVDs Image © Square Enix

3. Anime Fansubs
It wasn't long ago that watching new and current anime titles was difficult for the average person. Recently, thanks again to BitTorrent, it has become easier and more accessible than ever.

But where do these episodes come from? Well, it started in the 1980s, when small groups of fans began to add translated subtitles to their favourite shows and trade them with each other. Slowly, anime began to increase in popularity. Clubs were formed that would meet every week or month to sit down and watch episodes/movies. Now, with popular titles on mainstream North American television, an anime series can be a hot property for a company to have.

And yet, even with the increased popularity, fansubbing remains. One of the main ethical codes of the scene is that while it remains a violation of copyright, fansubbing is only wrong if one distributes or continues work on a title that has been licensed by a North American company. The other main ethical code concerns money. Fansubs are to be 100% free, never sold or auctioned at any price.

This is a good example of copyright and cultural interests working together. Fans get early access to great shows, and companies get built-in audiences & increased popularity for their acquisitions with little to no marketing costs.


In summation, "piracy" can be a force for the cultural good, and it can be a drain on a copyright holder's resources. Smart companies will turn the disadvantages into new markets and opportunities.

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