Piracy.  Right off the very term evokes all kinds of images and feelings.  On the one hand you’ve got romantic figures like Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Long John Silver, Captain Hook, and yes even Jack Sparrow, swashbuckling their way across the seas on all types of great adventures.  On the other hand you have thieves, scoundrels, plunderers and killers known to do all types of hurt and damage, with no consideration for anyone else.  But the type of piracy I’m talking about is a modern one.  One in which no bodily harm is done, at least as far as I know.  This is a new piracy, cyber-piracy, involving digital media, such as music, ebooks and movies.  Our modern online culture has created this grand new world of piracy, which has had all types of arguments and controversy engulfed around it, one brewing for almost two decades now.

So now add a little bit of serendipity and you have what recently happened to me.  A couple weeks ago I went to a presentation about online distribution.  I gathered a few nuggets that I hoped would help us with our online operations.  And of course, one of the topics passionately discussed was the growing problem of piracy.  I of course listened, but didn’t take it too seriously.  I figured the type of person who would like our film would be someone who wouldn’t do this to us.  Famous last words.

The very next morning, my web operations guy (and my brother) informed me that we in fact had been pirated and that our film was streaming on several sites.  A real mix of conflicting emotions flooded me.  One was definitely anxiety, like my pocket had just been picked.  And then he told me how he found out.  A person who had streamed it off one of these sites had the audacity to ask us for a key to the “Dreams Awake Portal.”  When he was told to put the code in from his DVD, he admitted where he had watched it.  Totally amazing.  That guy has some brass ones, I have to admit.

Anyway, we decided to go ahead and do the normal FBI and IPR reporting, and also contacted the hosting companies involved, all in relation to what we can do according to The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  But realistically, completely stopping piracy is an impossible task.

So, back to the issue at hand.  Actually, there is a part of me than can relate to the opposite side of the piracy issue that I now find myself on.  For I too have always had a bit of an anarchist streak in me.  And also, I think this all taps into the same zeitgeist the “Occupy” movement tapped into as it has sweep everywhere these last few months.  The giant corporate structure that has engulfed the world the last several decades seems to be a lightning rod for this type of behavior.  In fact, these pirates may believe that these bigwigs are the real pirates, so they feel justified stealing from them.

Anyway, here is a message to those who choose to pirate our film.  Indie filmmakers like our team are not a part of that huge corporate structure.  Nor are we a part of the big studio system.  We shot our little film on a small budget, provided to us by a small number of people.  And also, the principals in our small company were a part of those small investors.  You diminish and devalue all the hard work, time, energy, effort and money that over 100 people put into this very demanding and stressful enterprise, and make us feel like what we have created has no value to you.  (How about showing us we are wrong?)

And please, do not make it harder for us to make our next little film.  I believe if you are the type of spiritually-principled person who would like our film, then pirating (theft) is not really a part of who you really are.  If that is so, and you just happened to have enjoyed a free version of our film (but yet do not have any access to all the wonderful extra material within the “Dreams Awake Portal” – http://dreamsawakeportal.com), then how about right now you do the positive thing and donate a few dollars to our new, exciting little film we currently have in development, “One Hand Clapping” (http://www.onehandclappingmovie.com)?  And also, we may just give you access to our “Dreams Awake Portal”.

Right below is a donate button where you can put in whatever amount you feel is appropriate for you.  And may all of you have a truly wonderful New Year!

JAD
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