Public Service Announcement
Look people, I am not sure how bluntly I can say this but you do realise that sharing tv series and films through services like Megaupload or Filefactory or Rapidshare is illegal and that if any of these services were to discover that one of their users was uploading and making such files available then they would at best delete the files or suspend the account and at very worst get said user in a lot of legal trouble.
One of the ways such uploading service like Megaupload find out someone has uploaded such files is when it gets a large number of repeated requests for a particular file to be downloaded. If this happens to often it makes them suspicious and they will go and look at the file. If they think the file is copyrighted material which is being shared illegally they will delete the file. If they feel this is happening frequently with a particular user they will suspend their account which means the user then loses all their uploads. They may also ban the user from the site.
Now one of the great things about fandom is the fact that we all appreciate that quite often it is hard to get hold of certain tv series or films either because they are old or out of circulation or because we live in different countries from where they are produced. This means that some fans are happy to take the risk of uploading files and sharing them because they like to enable their fellow fans, contribute to the fandom and share the love.
For the reasons I have already mentioned when people do carry out these kind of activities they are very careful not to advertise the fact they are doing this and do not post the links to the files they upload in public places where any Tom, Dick or Sally can stumble across them. This cuts down on the risk of the download links being overwhelmed with requests and means the person carrying out the uploads can keep some control over where and who is accessing them. Links are either passed around privately by direct message or email or posted to members only communities or mailing lists. Fandom polices itself and understands these things. File sharing is like Fight Club okay, the first rule is no one talks about it.
Unfortunately it would appear that someone needs to explain the rules to some of the inhabitants of Tumblr who don't appear to understand this concept. These people think that posting such download links on their Tumblr in plain sight is a splendid idea. Now if they had uploaded those files themselves to their own accounts with Megaupload etc then I would have to say that the risk would be entirely on them and they could do what they like. They do not do this however they instead post links to uploads other people have made and that have been posted by those people to members only communities on Livejournal.
Now everyone makes mistakes and I can understand if you are new to the fandom that someone may not as yet have taken you to one side and explained the rules to you. Equally you may not understand the risk despite the fact that the whole issue of copyright and illegal downloads seems to be a constant topic of conversation and concern in the news and all over the internet. When, however, an individual who has been uploading and sharing files in this way specifically asks that their links NOT be shared in public in this way on Tumblr due to the risks involved, one would hope that this would be more then enough clarity on the subject to stop it happening.
Apparently not. Even more bewildering is that when concerned members of fandom have privately contacted such inhabitants of Tumblr and asked them, as per the original uploaders request, not to post the download links publicly, their response was not to immediately take them down but instead to respond with an amusing gif.
Now I have to say that as a member of the legal profession I cannot possibly condone that people upload and share tv series and films in the manner I have described in this post. I would however also add that as a member of fandom I am aware it happens and that I take a very dim view of people who behave in such an ignorant fashion about this issue. Fandom now has a much more public profile then it has ever done and we are all aware that the media industry is watching Tumblr and Livejournal and all the other places fandom hangs out and taking note of our comments and viewpoints in a way that is virtually unprecedented.
I don't think anyone here would like to see such media industry taking legal action against some poor member of fandom for infringement of copyright simply because certain individuals do not have appear to have a grain of common sense or courtesy.If this continues I can see that those individuals who upload files and share them in this way will simply stop doing it and won't that be a huge loss to fandom as a whole. I for one really hope that it does not come to this.
This has been a public service announcement brought to you by Evil Dr Em's increasing irritation with the behaviour of some individuals in fandom. I would appreciate it if this could be signal boosted by all on LJ, Dreamwidth, Insane Journal, Twitter, Tumblr and any other outlying fannish outposts.
P.S It should be noted that the particular individual on Tumblr I have singled out here has finally taken the offending post down so don't go giving them extra grief.
One of the ways such uploading service like Megaupload find out someone has uploaded such files is when it gets a large number of repeated requests for a particular file to be downloaded. If this happens to often it makes them suspicious and they will go and look at the file. If they think the file is copyrighted material which is being shared illegally they will delete the file. If they feel this is happening frequently with a particular user they will suspend their account which means the user then loses all their uploads. They may also ban the user from the site.
Now one of the great things about fandom is the fact that we all appreciate that quite often it is hard to get hold of certain tv series or films either because they are old or out of circulation or because we live in different countries from where they are produced. This means that some fans are happy to take the risk of uploading files and sharing them because they like to enable their fellow fans, contribute to the fandom and share the love.
For the reasons I have already mentioned when people do carry out these kind of activities they are very careful not to advertise the fact they are doing this and do not post the links to the files they upload in public places where any Tom, Dick or Sally can stumble across them. This cuts down on the risk of the download links being overwhelmed with requests and means the person carrying out the uploads can keep some control over where and who is accessing them. Links are either passed around privately by direct message or email or posted to members only communities or mailing lists. Fandom polices itself and understands these things. File sharing is like Fight Club okay, the first rule is no one talks about it.
Unfortunately it would appear that someone needs to explain the rules to some of the inhabitants of Tumblr who don't appear to understand this concept. These people think that posting such download links on their Tumblr in plain sight is a splendid idea. Now if they had uploaded those files themselves to their own accounts with Megaupload etc then I would have to say that the risk would be entirely on them and they could do what they like. They do not do this however they instead post links to uploads other people have made and that have been posted by those people to members only communities on Livejournal.
Now everyone makes mistakes and I can understand if you are new to the fandom that someone may not as yet have taken you to one side and explained the rules to you. Equally you may not understand the risk despite the fact that the whole issue of copyright and illegal downloads seems to be a constant topic of conversation and concern in the news and all over the internet. When, however, an individual who has been uploading and sharing files in this way specifically asks that their links NOT be shared in public in this way on Tumblr due to the risks involved, one would hope that this would be more then enough clarity on the subject to stop it happening.
Apparently not. Even more bewildering is that when concerned members of fandom have privately contacted such inhabitants of Tumblr and asked them, as per the original uploaders request, not to post the download links publicly, their response was not to immediately take them down but instead to respond with an amusing gif.
Now I have to say that as a member of the legal profession I cannot possibly condone that people upload and share tv series and films in the manner I have described in this post. I would however also add that as a member of fandom I am aware it happens and that I take a very dim view of people who behave in such an ignorant fashion about this issue. Fandom now has a much more public profile then it has ever done and we are all aware that the media industry is watching Tumblr and Livejournal and all the other places fandom hangs out and taking note of our comments and viewpoints in a way that is virtually unprecedented.
I don't think anyone here would like to see such media industry taking legal action against some poor member of fandom for infringement of copyright simply because certain individuals do not have appear to have a grain of common sense or courtesy.If this continues I can see that those individuals who upload files and share them in this way will simply stop doing it and won't that be a huge loss to fandom as a whole. I for one really hope that it does not come to this.
This has been a public service announcement brought to you by Evil Dr Em's increasing irritation with the behaviour of some individuals in fandom. I would appreciate it if this could be signal boosted by all on LJ, Dreamwidth, Insane Journal, Twitter, Tumblr and any other outlying fannish outposts.
P.S It should be noted that the particular individual on Tumblr I have singled out here has finally taken the offending post down so don't go giving them extra grief.