[ILUG-Social] Re: [ILUG] Linux: the film. duly noted definately would make the extra effort to talk directly with these people and mention to the IFC (local arts cinema) about a more approriate showing. Would enough people in ILUG be interested to cover the possible costs of a showing some Saturday afternoon/morning. Anyway this is distant future anyway i have too much on my plate already. I hope the DVD they produce wont be region coded, damned anti-consumer cartels and monoplistic tendencies of coporate greed. Is this the same film the 2600 people are always going on about or is that something else? Later Alan On Wed, 14 Aug 2002, Rick Moen wrote: > Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 12:02:13 -0700 > From: Rick Moen  > To: Alan Horkan  > Cc: social@linux.ie > Subject: Re: [ILUG] Linux: the film. > > [Moved from the ILUG list.  Not _entirely_ offlist as requested, but > close enough.] > > Quoting Alan Horkan (horkana@tcd.ie): > > > More likely we would try and get it when it comes out on video/dvd and > > show it then (which AFAIK is legal as we are non profit private > > organisation having a private showing and not charging our members for > > the showing. any opinions on the legality of this should be sent > > offlist). > > > One bloke's opinion: > > > Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2002 00:18:29 -0700 > From: "J.T.S. Moore"  > Reply-To: jtsmoore@pacificnet.net > To: Marc MERLIN , >    Daniel Isacc Walker  > CC: svlug@svlug.org, Rick Moen , sluglug@sluglug.ucsc.edu, >    Peter Belew , "Eric A. Perlman" , >    i3e-off@cse.ucsc.edu, slug-web@sluglug.ucsc.edu > Subject: REVOLUTION OS is now authorized for UC Santa Cruz screening > > To all, > > I have read the series of e-mails related to the unauthorized UC Santa > Cruz screening that was scheduled for June 1.  I sincerely appreciate > IEEE's good faith effort to correct the mistake. > > Consequently, so as not to inconvenience the people planning to attend > the screening, I want to give IEEE and SlugLUG permission to screen > REVOLUTION OS at 1 PM on June 1.  I would ask the members of SVLUG to > hold off on attending the screening for the simple reason that I am > trying to get REVOLUTION OS booked into the Camera 3 in San Jose, and I > would prefer that SVLUG's members have a chance to see a nice 35mm print > of the film.  If my distributor is unable to book the film into a > theater in the Bay Area, I promise that I will work with SVLUG to > quickly set up a screening for its members. > > I realize there may be some members of SlugLUG who are unhappy that I > originally requested that they not hold an unauthorized screening of > REVOLUTION OS.  There are several reasons why I made the request, and > none of them have anything to do with me wanting to be a jerk. > > One SlugLUG member commented that it was odd that a movie about the Open > Source movement would not be available for open viewings.  Another > SlugLUG member remarked that my request smacks of Bill Gates's Open Letter > to Hobbyists. > > The bottomline is that I did make a film about the Open Source movement, > but to assume that automatically means that the film is itself Open > Sourced seems to be a little bit of a stretch.  If I made a movie about > the history of vegetarianism that would not automatically mean I'm a > vegetarian. > > I simply thought Open Source and Free Software were compelling subjects > worth exploring and documenting.  As a result, I came to admire many > aspects of the Open Source movement and chose to focus the documentary > on the movement's positive history.  However, I do not think I should be > punished for telling the story of Free Software and Open Source by > having my intellectual property misappropriated.   More practically, my > feelings about Open Sourcing REVOLUTION OS are abundantly clear when you > see the explicit copyright notice at the end of the film's credits. > > I realize that making a videotape copy for personal use from a TV airing > is considered fair use.  I believe in a healthy fair use doctrine. > However, there is a big difference between viewing your personal copy at > home with a few friends and holding a publicly advertised screening on a > university campus.  So I freely admit my objection to unauthorized > screenings of REVOLUTION OS does echo Bill Gates's letter.  Personally, I > believe that the creator of a piece of intellectual property should > retain the choice to Open Source their IP.  If the Open Source movement > is not voluntary then it is really just piracy. > > One of the reasons I am concern with unauthorized group screenings of > the film, is that my distributor is planning in a few weeks to begin > selling VHS copies of the film for educational/institutional use with a > license permitting noncommercial large group screenings.  We hope to use > the money from these sales to fund the authoring and replication of the > DVD.  I want to release the DVD as soon as possible, but I cannot afford > to take on anymore REVOLUTION OS-related debt.  Thus the importance of > preserving the educational/institutional market. > > Frequently, I will read comments on Slashdot and other mailing lists > that justify the piracy of music on the grounds that it benefits the > artists and only hurts the greedy record labels.  Well, in the case of > REVOLUTION OS there is no multinational media conglomerate to punish. > It's just me.  I made and financed the film on my own.  I have worked > full-time for almost three years without a salary.  The only way I will > get out of debt and have a chance to make another film is if people seek > out legal opportunities to view REVOLUTION OS. > > I truly appreciate the enthusiasm of the Open Source community for > REVOLUTION OS, and I am grateful that people do want to see it.  If you > will just bare with me, I will figure out a way for all interested > persons to legally view it. > > I hope the dust up over the unauthorized, and now authorized, screening > at UC Santa Cruz has not inconvenienced anyone. > > Sincerely, > > J.T.S. Moore > Director, REVOLUTION OS > --  Irish Linux Users' Group Social Events: social@linux.ie http://www.linux.ie/mailman/listinfo/social for (un)subscription information. List maintainer: listmaster@linux.ie