You’ve got piracy

February 14, 2005

To: hotline@mpaa.org
From: justin@justinrussell.com
Subject: Anti-Piracy Hotline Report

Good morning,

I would like to make you aware of an instance of piracy I’ve noticed lately online. I truly believe that everyone both within and outside the entertainment industry should the protection granted to them by the copyrights that are rightfully theirs.

Upon visiting a couple of my favorite online news sites, I read a story {1} about how the MPAA has been promoting anti-piracy with the phrase “You can click, but you can’t hide,” even going as far as to place it prominently on the domains of services that you have deemed as infringing. I am requesting some form of documentation that you have cleared the rights to use this modification of the popular saying, “You can run, but you can’t hide,” used, for example, in the copyrighted works of A Flock of Seagulls {2}, Hunter S. Thompson, and John Perry Barlow {3}. I would also like to know if you have received clearance from Boston.com to use the “You can click, but you can’t hide” phrase used as a headline to a March 8, 2000 column {4}.

Please cease from infringing the rights of copyright holders. Piracy (“the unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material”, as defined at dictionary.com {5}) is unethical, illegal, and hurts content creators.

Thank you.

Justin Russell
http://www.justinrussell.com

Sources:
– {1} http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/11/who_did_mpaa_rip_off.html
– {2} http://www.oz.net/~davester/AFOS/Lyrics/YouCanRun.html
– {3} http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/run.html
– {4} http://www.technologyfront.com/journalism/2000/03/dm-03-08.html
– {5} http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=piracy

P.S. I’ve never pirated a movie, and now I hate you even more.