If you happen to already be of the opinion that Michael Moore is not the lovable man of the people he appears to be, then this news probably won't be changing your feelings about him anytime soon. One month after Moore offered up free downloads of his latest documentary, Slacker Uprising, Torrent Freak reports that "In a letter dated September 25th, lawyers representing Westside Productions LLC, owner of the Slacker Uprising copyright sprang into action, demanding the removal of a torrent linking to the movie from any and all international sites."Moore's latest was compiled of footage from his recent college tour -- a tour in which he traveled to colleges in the so-called 'swing states' to speak to students in an attempt to energize young voters. The film is a re-edited version of Moore's 2007 doc, Captain Mike Across America, which screened at TIFF in '07 to lukewarm reviews. Moore initially said the reason behind the free download was both a reward to fans who have supported him over the years, as well as a way to get out his message prior to the upcoming presidential election.
The download was offered only to those living in the US and Canada, but it didn't take long for the film to start popping up on numerous torrent sites outside of North America. Moore's lawyers inexplicably sent their letter to the DNS service (easyDNS) of one of the international sites pirating the flick, which is not required to comply with US law. A co-founder of easyDNS responded to Moore's lawyers with the following: "...Anybody with half a clue knows the net doesn't work like that. In any case, I've sent them our standard 'we're not the web host, we're just the lowly DNS service', but I did point out this seeming contradiction in Michael Moore's message vs. his lawyer's actions."
So while Moore may have every right to control how his film is distributed, maybe someone should have explained that old saying about the internet and pee in a pool.
1. It makes for a sensational headline, but even within your own poorly-written article nowhere does it say that Michael Moore made this request. Of course the truth never really matters at Cinematical anyway since the standard for writer appears to be nothing more than opposable thumbs.
In the real world, corporations are large entities and the contracts and legal requirements can be complicated. Michael Moore's company does not own the foreign distribution rights for this film. So even though he offered it for free in Canada and the U.S., the company that does own the foreign rights is going to fight to ensure they can get a return on their investment by threatening legal action against those trying to distribute the film illegally in their territories. If you don't fight for your copyrights then you lose them. Simple. That's the law.
How that gets turned into Michael Moore trying to "shut down" the Slacker Uprising can only be understood in the mind of the callow and uninformed.
Posted at 4:07PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Boyd