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Author Topic: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…  (Read 10926 times)

Renegade

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An interesting story about a film maker putting his work up for pirates...

http://torrentfreak....ates-deliver-140724/

DIRECTOR WANTS HIS FILM ON THE PIRATE BAY, PIRATES DELIVER…

A few days ago a Dutch movie director asked people to upload a copy of one of his older films onto The Pirate Bay. The filmmaker had become fed up with the fact that copyright issues made his work completely unavailable through legal channels. To his surprise, pirates were quick to deliver.

suzyDutch movie director Martin Koolhoven sent out an unusual request on Twitter a few days ago.

While many filmmakers fear The Pirate Bay, Koolhoven asked his followers to upload a copy of his 1999 film “Suzy Q” to the site.

“Can someone just upload Suzy Q to The Pirate Bay?” Koolhoven asked.

The director doesn’t own all copyrights to the movie himself, but grew frustrated by the fact that his film is not available through legal channels.

The TV-film, which also features the film debut of Game of Thrones actress Carice Van Houten, was paid for with public money but after the music rights expired nobody was able to see it anymore.

The main problem is with the film’s music, which includes tracks from popular artists such as The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. This prevented the film from being released in movie theaters and on DVD, and the TV-network also chose not to extend the licenses for the TV rights.

Since the music was no longer licensed it couldn’t be shown anymore, not even on the websites of the public broadcasters.

“To me, it felt like the movie had died,” Koolhoven tells TorrentFreak.

Hoping to bring it back to life, Koolhoven tweeted his upload request, and it didn’t take long before the pirates delivered. Within a few hours the first copy of the film was uploaded, and several more were added in the days that followed.

“I had no idea the media would pick it up the way they did. That generated more media attention. At first I hesitated because I didn’t want to become the poster boy for the download-movement. All I wanted was for people to be able to see my film,” Koolhoven says.

Unfortunately the first upload of the movie that appeared on The Pirate Bay was in very bad quality. So the director decided to go all the way and upload a better version to YouTube himself.

“I figured it would probably be thrown off after a few days, due to the music rights issue, but at least people could see a half decent version instead of watching the horrible copy that was available on The Pirate Bay,” Koolhoven tells us.

Interestingly, YouTube didn’t remove the film but asked the director whether he had the right to use the songs. Since this is not the case the money made through the advertisements on YouTube will go to the proper rightsholders.

“We’re a few days later now and the movie is still on YouTube. And people have started to put higher quality torrents of Suzy Q on Pirate Bay. Even 720p can be found, I’ve heard,” Koolhoven notes.

While the director is not the exclusive rightsholder, he does see himself as the moral owner of the title. Also, he isn’t shying away from encouraging others to download and share the film.

In essence, he believes that all movies should be available online, as long as it’s commercially viable. It shouldn’t hurt movie theater attendance either, as that remains the main source of income for most films and the best viewing experience.

“I know not everybody cares about that, but I do. The cinema is the best place to see movies. If you haven’t seen ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ on the big screen, you just haven’t seen it,” Koolhoven says.

In the case of Suzy Q, however, people are free to grab a pirated copy.

“Everyone can go to The Pirate Bay and grab a copy. People are actually not supposed to, but they have my permission to download Susy Q,” Koolhoven said in an interview with Geenstijl.

“If other people download the movie and help with seeding then the download time will be even more reasonable,” Koolhoven adds.
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Deozaan

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2014, 03:30 PM »
“Everyone can go to The Pirate Bay and grab a copy. People are actually not supposed to, but they have my permission to download Susy Q,” Koolhoven said in an interview with Geenstijl.

Cool. Let me try that one:

"Everyone can go to a nearby bank and take some money! People are actually not supposed to, but they have my permission to take $1,000,000 USD."

Edvard

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2014, 03:44 PM »
If you had printed the money, and nobody wanted to exchange it anymore, then yes, that would be a closer analogy.

wraith808

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2014, 04:29 PM »
If you had printed the money, and nobody wanted to exchange it anymore, then yes, that would be a closer analogy.

This.

40hz

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2014, 04:38 PM »
The director doesn’t own all copyrights to the movie himself, but grew frustrated by the fact that his film is not available through legal channels.

His permission perhaps, but not the distributor's or studio's permission he is under contract with for that picture?

So...anybody want to throw themselves on the sword he himself doesn't plan to sacrifice himself on?

Sounds one of those suggestions that fall under the general heading of: "Hey! I just had this great idea!!! Why don't YOU do it instead of me?"

 :-\


Edvard

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2014, 05:03 PM »
His permission perhaps, but not the distributor's or studio's permission he is under contract with for that picture?

Article says it was done with public money for TV release, so I don't think the film's relationship to the producers is the same as your average Hollywood or even independent film in that respect.

So...anybody want to throw themselves on the sword he himself doesn't plan to sacrifice himself on?

For the record, he did upload the Youtube copy himself, after the first torrent upload was crappy quality.

The big sticky that I got from the article was that it wasn't the movie itself that was the problem, but the licensing of the music used in the soundtrack.  That is why it isn't in syndication, because the broadcaster would be responsible for paying the copyright holders of the music (already happening with it being up on Youtube), and they don't want to do that, so the movie can't be shown without re-licensing the soundtrack, no matter who holds the rights to distribute it.  The director just wants people to be able to see the movie.  The legality of his request may be questionable, but I suspect rather trivial (IANAL), so he's probably in the clear, but I can't say he's not taking his own risk.

app103

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2014, 07:40 AM »
The same thing happened to the original PBS production of Ursula LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven, from 1980. It took 20 years before it could be released again, because of the music...mainly because of a piece of a Beatles tune (integral to a plot point in both the novel and the film), which in the end they replaced with a cover of the song in the re-release, because it was easier and cheaper than using the original. But it was still a lot of hoops to jump through and cost them a lot of money to be able to re-release it, back in 2000.

Renegade

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2014, 11:07 AM »
Does anyone see the insanity here yet?
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

40hz

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2014, 11:20 AM »
Article says it was done with public money for TV release, so I don't think the film's relationship to the producers is the same as your average Hollywood or even independent film in that respect.


I wonder if that makes any difference. The BBC is funded with public money and they're pretty rabid about media rights. As is Canada with their "public" stuff. Guess it depends on which public money you're using.

The legality of his request may be questionable, but I suspect rather trivial (IANAL), so he's probably in the clear,

Possibly. But in my experience it's only trivial until you get served with papers. Once that happens, it's far from trivial even if the claim being filed has absolutely no legal merit.

but I can't say he's not taking his own risk.

Fair enough. I wasn't aware he schlepped a copy over to YouTube on his own. I stand corrected.  :) :Thmbsup:

Curt

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #9 on: July 27, 2014, 12:42 PM »
What a lack of effort. The director is of course not a nincompoop, I hope, so maybe he is a stranger to computers, the Internet, YouTube and such? I mean, the movie he has uploaded is merely 320x240 pixels - I will not watch 81 minutes in such a microscopic format - and the dialogue is all in Dutch and not subtitled!

Who is he uploading for?

wraith808

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2014, 02:14 PM »
What a lack of effort. The director is of course not a nincompoop, I hope, so maybe he is a stranger to computers, the Internet, YouTube and such? I mean, the movie he has uploaded is merely 320x240 pixels - I will not watch 81 minutes in such a microscopic format - and the dialogue is all in Dutch and not subtitled!

Who is he uploading for?


If it's an older film, there probably is *not* HD footage in existence.  So he uploaded what he had.

40hz

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2014, 03:34 PM »
Who is he uploading for?

Very tiny people who speak Dutch?  :huh:

Deozaan

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #12 on: July 28, 2014, 03:45 PM »
Who is he uploading for?

Very tiny people who speak Dutch?  :huh:

Dutchlings?

tomos

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2014, 04:04 PM »
^  ;D ;D

all you need now is a picture :D
Tom

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2014, 04:12 PM »

superboyac

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #15 on: July 28, 2014, 04:14 PM »
I love this line!
“I know not everybody cares about that, but I do. The cinema is the best place to see movies. If you haven’t seen ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ on the big screen, you just haven’t seen it,” Koolhoven says.
I just saw that movie for the first time a few years ago and it blew me away something special.  I just couldn't get over the experience of that movie for several weeks.  I haven't seen it on the big screen!  damn!!
I heard last year that they showed the full uncut never before seen version of this at a private showing with the stars in attendance, and it got a standing O from deniro, connelly, everyone.  I do really like this movie.

tomos

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #16 on: July 28, 2014, 04:20 PM »


the Dutch are getting a reputation here, where's Shades when you need him...
Tom

40hz

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #17 on: July 28, 2014, 05:21 PM »
I love this line!
“I know not everybody cares about that, but I do. The cinema is the best place to see movies. If you haven’t seen ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ on the big screen, you just haven’t seen it,” Koolhoven says.
I just saw that movie for the first time a few years ago and it blew me away something special.  I just couldn't get over the experience of that movie for several weeks.  I haven't seen it on the big screen!  damn!!
I heard last year that they showed the full uncut never before seen version of this at a private showing with the stars in attendance, and it got a standing O from deniro, connelly, everyone.  I do really like this movie.

You also need to see:

Patton
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Where Eagles Dare
Lawrence of Arabia
Ben-Hur
2001: A Space Odyssey
Seabiscuit
Twister



up on the big screen...in a theater....with a crowd...to really get the full effect.

Even the best home theater doesn't do these films justice. 8) :Thmbsup:


Curt

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #18 on: July 28, 2014, 06:21 PM »
Who is he uploading for?
Very tiny people who speak Dutch?  :huh:
Dutchlings?

 ;D :greenclp:

app103

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #19 on: July 28, 2014, 09:38 PM »
Who is he uploading for?

Very tiny people who speak Dutch?  :huh:

Dutchlings?

3519026[1].gif

Shades

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #20 on: July 30, 2014, 01:14 AM »
Have you seen the numbers for average height per country? I can tell you...the Dutch are definitely not small! When I was working on a high school in the Netherlands, I regularly had to look up to students...but here in Paraguay I look like a tower with my height of just 1,83 mtr.

Actually, there is global research that says in case you want tall, healthy and (reasonably) well educated children you best make babies with the locals of the northern parts of Europe, like Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark (not necessarily in that order ;)). The Game of Thrones reference: 'Making the eight' does apply though (Carice van Houten is a fine example of what the Dutch can do :P

Touting the Dutch horn even more...I believe that the area where I was born in the Netherlands (Veldhoven, Eindhoven, 's Hertogenbosch) is regarded by the UN as one of the most intelligent gene pools globally (if I wasn't born there, the area would have been the most intelligent gene pool, hehehe). For that reason ASML, Philips and other high-tech companies have big R&D divisions set up in this area.

More on topic:
Maybe the movie wasn't shot with high-def cameras, but I doubt that. Dutch movies are usually shot with very high quality cameras on high quality film...which is why there is always such a stark contrast between the production values and the camera quality.

Besides that, 1999 was still somewhat the year of VHS. Those devices were usually connected to a standard 4:3 TV displaying a PAL signal of 576i, so a copy with a resolution of only 320x240 would already have looked like shit on those old standards. I have no recollection of ever seeing anything as crappy as that on public or commercial TV stations in the Netherlands. And I come from an age with black and white TV's with 6(!) channels, where you actually had to leave your chair to change the channel.


40hz

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #21 on: July 30, 2014, 01:10 PM »
@Shades - as long as the Netherlands keep producing the likes of Sylvia Kristel, Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn, and Famke Janssen, I'm all for whatever film and breeding program the Dutch have embarked on.  ;) :Thmbsup:

superboyac

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Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…
« Reply #22 on: July 30, 2014, 01:14 PM »
re dutch:
I once read (don't remember where) that the dutch, just a few decades ago, were quite short.  And in a relatively short amount of time, the population height grew to where they are now some of the tallest in the world, avg male height over 6'.  Maybe it's all that cheese.