I just read a great article on Gizmodo by Peter Serafinowicz regarding the various reasons he chooses to pirate music and video entitled “Why I Steal Movies… Even Ones I’m In. It’s a pretty funny read, but it’s also very much on the nose for why I too sometimes download content through illegal means.
I recently directed the music video for Hot Chip’s “I Feel Better.” Contractually, the video had to be hosted on EMI’s official YouTube channel, which disabled non-UK users from viewing it, limiting its audience by around 80%. Frustrated, I put it up on my own YouTube channel with no region restrictions, and at time of writing is just shy of a million views. EMI then remotely disabled embedding on my version, thereby limiting its audience again. If you’re in the business of promoting a band, why would you want to stop people watching their promotional video? (emphasis added)
What I liked about this article is that it isn’t just another geek railing about how business just doesn’t get it and old people are stupid. Peter is incredibly talented and is a content creator himself — and yet he pirates his own content too!
If you don’t know who Peter Serafinowicz, then here’s a couple of nuggets:
- Played “Sctanley” in the movie Couples Retreat and “Pete” in Shawn of the Dead
- Done some great voiceover work, including Darth Maul from Star Wars: Episode 1 and “The IT Crowd”.
- There’s a nice interview with him from last February on Boing Boing.
- And last, but certainly not least… wait for it… he freaking created “Look Around You“.
If you’ve never heard of “Look Around You”, then go bit torrent it right now! Just kidding. You can watch it on YouTube [link] 😉