Theory Opinion on pirating MLP:FiM episodes & other media

[Mythicolt 11]

Hey Everypony, I'd like to hear your opinions

on not just pirating in general, but more specifically the download of

MLP: fim episodes seasons etc.

 

No links to downloads please

[brian577 120]

If I can pay for something, I don't pirate it. I only use "alternative" methods if I can't acquire something thought legitimate means. For instance, if I want to rent a movie I will exhaust every available option to do so (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, local rental store, etc), if I can't find what I want though through any of those sources then it is the content provider who has failed me and has forced me to resort to piracy.

[NavelColt 22,883]

Altered your title so it's more specific to MLP:FiM like you intended :3 Just to avoid any confusion.

 

Honestly, it's going to happen as long as the internet is around, so it really falls down an individuals' moral depth. If they weren't available on Youtube, I'd watch/get them somewhere else. I don't think it's morally right, but it's also not really doing much harm, either.

[Guest]

I don't see why you would even download them, they are almost always able to be found on YouTube... Not that the episodes being on YouTube is any better than piracy. I wouldn't say I care that much especially because I don't have any other options to watching the show besides YouTube as I haven't got the channel where it is shown in Danish (and besides, the Danish voice acting is absolutely horrendous).

[Clarity 3,094]

I admit I downloaded episodes from mediafire before. But honestly I don't think it's that harmful to anybody; you can always, again, watch it on Youtube. If I don't get bored on my bus everyday with nothing to watch, I probably wouldn't have pirated.

[DusK 1,264]

I posted this to my blog nearly a year ago in regards to SOPA/PIPA, but because it's relevant, I'll copy-pasta it to here. It's a long read, but pretty much details all I have to say on the subject.

 

“As much as people are advocating piracy nowadays, do yourselves a favor: There’s a lot of music, movies, games, and software out there that’s definitely worth the money. Buy your stuff.”

 

I posted that on Facebook recently, and a shortened version of it on Twitter, and I stand by it. Right now, everyone who uses the Internet is entangled in a power struggle between intellectual property protection and an open, free Internet. I feel like I should chime in.

 

I’m not a big fan of stealing. Theft, in all aspects, should be frowned upon. But like nearly every single person who’s ever used the ‘net, I’ve done it. But only once can I say I’ve done it because I can’t truly afford to get it legitimately. That was FL Studio. And guess what? The first chance I got, I bought it. They seem a little lax on the issue, but I bought it. And not the version I pirated either; I pirated a barebones copy and only used it for drum programming. I ended up shelling out for the whole shebang: The Signature Bundle. I got it during Christmas, but it was still $150 out of my pocket.

 

And it felt good.

 

To this day, I refuse to use any software for making music that I haven’t actually purchase legitimately or isn’t freeware. Those sweet strings you can hear in “In Over Your Head” on Dynamite Headdy: Secret Bonus Point? That’s Miroslav Philharmonik CE, bought and paid for. And I’m glad I did.

 

That, to me, is the best piracy deterrent. It all revolves around whether or not something is really worth it.

 

For music, it’s kind of a given. Mainstream artists still insist on charging nearly $20 for songs that, quite frankly, aren’t that good, but the general public eats up anyway because the modern music machine is completely broken (that’s another story). This article on ArsTechnica yields some very interesting numbers, though: Only 2% of Americans are “heavy pirates” of music, having over 1,000 pirated tracks in their libraries. And getting with the times? 46% of pirates stated that they scaled back their piracy thanks to the advent of newer ways to get music legally. Digitally purchasing music does work. It’s the future. CDs are pretty much already outdated, much to the chagrin of the RIAA. And all of this is the same with movies and TV shows. Netflix, Hulu, ect…. The possibilities are endless.

 

Software piracy, of course, is also an issue. As is game piracy, especially on the PC. But most of this is the fault of the developers.

 

Yeah, that’s right. Wipe that shocked look off your face and keep reading.

 

Take Assassin’s Creed 2, for example. It’s one of my favorite examples. Ubisoft made a great game with AC2. And I was full-on ready to buy it when it came out. Especially if it meant some more money going into Jesper Kyd’s pockets (huge Jesper Kyd fan right here). But then, they announced the DRM. You’d have to maintain a constant connection to the Internet and Ubisoft’s servers to play it. A single-player game required a constant (not one-time, like many other PC games nowadays) connection to the Internet for, as far as I know, the first time in PC gaming history. This is the best example of what was intended to be an anti-piracy deterrent turning into a piracy incentive. Within a week or so of the game’s release, a well-known piracy group had already cracked the game wide open and made it so you didn’t need to buy the game, nor connect to the Internet to play it. Ubisoft made a game that was more of a hassle for legitimate users to play than people who stole the game.

 

And game companies keep doing this. They’re bringing about their own destruction by coming up with these really flawed attempts to stop pirates, instead making things harder for customers that pay for the game than it is for people who don’t pay a dime, with the only effect on piracy being an increase of it. This is why piracy exists.

 

Another reason is the lack of a demo. In console gaming, this could work; You know the game’s gonna run on your console. All you need to do is read up about the game, watch a few videos, and you can make up your mind on whether or not it’s something you want to fork over $60 for. With PC gaming, you can’t do that. You want to know how the game is going to run on your system before spending your hard-earned cash on it. So you get a demo. But for some reason or another, many PC game developers aren’t putting out demos for their games, instead expecting people to just fork over their cash for a game that may or may not be worth it given their system. And no, the system requirements are not a good indicator. Dragon Age, Halo 2, and many others are a testament to just how misleading that label can be. So there’s really only one solution; pirate the game, and if you like it, buy it. But sometimes, some people that pirate just don’t bother paying for the full game. They went through all the trouble of looking for a non-existent demo, and ended up pirating instead to see how the game would run, and now that they have it, why not finish it? In this way, by skimping out on the development of a demo, game developers lose what would have been paying customers.

 

To this day, I’ve never pirated a game I felt was worth it without paying for it eventually. I pirated Deus Ex: Human Revolution because it didn’t have a demo and found myself buying it before I finished the first visit to Detroit. Best $30 I’ve spent in a while. And I’m freakin glad I did it. It’s an amazing game, and it deserves to be paid for.

 

So what does SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA have to do with this? All three of those acts are grown from the same vine; On the outside, it looks like it’d be the fruit of justice, ensuring that hard-working musicians (that hits home), artists, directors, actors, game developers, ect all get their just compensation for providing the entertainment that, in my opinion, defines the beginning of the 21st century. But it hides a bitter aftertaste in the form of an extremely censored Internet that strikes fear into the hearts of innovators such as myself. Most people that know me online know me as DusK, a person that (aside from playing lots of video games) pays tribute to the art form of video game music by creating interpretive arrangements of it, or in some instances, direct covers. If SOPA, PIPA, or ACTA were to pass, I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. That’s why I fully oppose all three of these acts, as well as the attack on Internet privacy introduced by SOPA author Lamar Smith, HR 1981.

 

But it doesn’t stop there. Fanfiction, fanart, fan videos (which make up a vast majority of YouTube content) would be suppressed for fear of legal action, even given the scope of fair use. This, my friends, would be the end of the golden age of the Internet, not even a decade after it began.

 

“So whose side are you on, DusK?!” The side of reason. Piracy exists because of them. Because of the corporations, because of overzealous game developers and publishers, musicians who want to charge out the ass for utter crap, movie producers and Hollywood execs who want people to funnel a 75+% profit into their gold-lined suit pockets, and various other people who still insist on trying their hardest not to be obsolete and keep the money fountains on in this glorious digital age. But, it’s no fault of ours, the common user, for not wanting to be the faucets. And we need to show them that. But that can’t be done if people are greedy. Then it does become our fault. Do you really want it to be your fault?

 

So I’m standing by my quote. This attack on a free and open Internet can’t be waged with teenager-style rebellion, by pirating everything you possibly can as a way of saying “Hey look at me, I’m breaking the rules.” There are musicians out there who take very little profit from their album sales and make it up by pouring their hearts out during absolutely incredible live shows. There are TV show and movie creators that make their stuff available for streaming and pack their DVD collections with loads of extras that make the purchase worth it. There are game developers that require no more than a single activation on Steam or nothing more than a CD key to run their games, opting out of restrictive DRM, and put out demos for their products. Give your money to them. If it’s something you want, and they’re pulling out the stops to make legally owning it almost completely hassle-free, then buy it. There’s no better way to show the proponents of either side of the piracy debate that there are business models out there that make something worth buying even if you can get it for free. That, and the warm fuzzy feeling you get from supporting those who make your lives better by providing quality stuff.

 

Piracy is a symptom, not the problem. But until the underlying problem for that symptom is treated as a whole, spend your money on stuff that remains free of the underlying problem. It’s hypocritical to expect producers, musicians, game developers, and other creative entities to do their part without us doing ours.

This includes the FiM releases. They're art. They're worth the money.

[Mythicolt 11]

Altered your title so it's more specific to MLP:FiM like you intended :3 Just to avoid any confusion.

 

Honestly, it's going to happen as long as the internet is around, so it really falls down an individuals' moral depth. If they weren't available on Youtube, I'd watch/get them somewhere else. I don't think it's morally right, but it's also not really doing much harm, either.

 

Discord avoiding confusion? lol thanks

 

And I agree, I will admit to having downloaded both season 1 n 2,

mainly because my internet isnt always reliable while try to stream.

Can you even buy the episodes or seasons other than itunes?

[Teller 360]

I pirate software all day, er'day. I really like to think of it as an extended trial to get myself acquainted with the program or determine whether I like it or not. Some program trials lock out all the features that I actually want to try, so of course I'll be willing to try more drastic, less legal ways to use said programs for the full features. If I don't like the program, I'll just delete and and move on, knowing that I've saved myself hundreds knowing that I would've been disappointed with the program if I bought it. If I do like it, then I'll delete the pirated version of the program and go buy the full version of the program, knowing that it's money well spent.

 

Also, since I respect Hasbro as a company, I buy all my MLP episodes on iTunes.

Edited October 23, 2012 by moT

[khaine21x3 789]

Piracy is the symptom, you gotta fix the problem.I'll use MLP:FIM as an example:

 

The majority of people who watches the show got it from youtube or torrenting it, Hasbro is smart enough to let them as the bulk of their profits comes from merchandise.Instead of using DMCA takedowns or forcing people to buy MLP:FIM, hasbro could sell better merchandise and license their intellectual property to other area such as restaurants, video games, posters, puzzles, backpacks, etc.

 

It's the legal system's fault for not imprisoning people who makes mlp fan products without giving hasbro a percentage, I don't think that even america has imprisoned those devianart guys who made money off mlp artwork without giving hasbro any of their profits.

 

Music piracy is caused by the outdated distribution of music and the music being overpriced for the quality.

 

video game piracy is caused by racist and discriminatory regional pricing most of the time.I live in a country where selling original software s illegal aside from microsft and blizzard products but even then I don't know anyone who has pirated an indie game nor have I seen pirated indie game in any lan cafe, most people choose to legitimately support indie developers by buying online.

 

DRM and Region block only encourage people to pirate product.

 

A certain possibly american gym franchise here is charging people membership prices based on skin color

Edited October 23, 2012 by khaine21x3

[Dautt 77]

I personally don't mind pirating mlp or other things I may have downloaded the first two seasons then deleted them do to them being better than 740p so I just watch on youtube now,

[yuffie4ever 11]

I'll admit I have downloaded episodes. I only download what I can't buy though. For example I have the first season of MLP:FIM downloaded but I will get rid of it and buy the season when it is released in December.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

Piracy may not be legal, but it's not always immoral. There's no difference between me downloading the episodes from someplace and taping them from the TV.

 

That said, I've already pre-ordered the box set of the first season. I'll buy stuff from them if they give me the chance.

 

It's the legal system's fault for not imprisoning people who makes mlp fan products without giving hasbro a percentage, I don't think that even america has imprisoned those devianart guys who made money off mlp artwork without giving hasbro any of their profits.

It's up to the content owners to press charges. If Hasbro doesn't want to push for fines or jail time, then the guilty party won't get any, as it should be.

 

The copyright laws are pretty convoluted. Hasbro could have feigned ignorance about people selling commissions with no repercussions, but once it was brought to their attention they had to take action or risk losing their rights to whatever was being made. Or something to that effect. The point being that Hasbro didn't really mind what people were doing, they acted strictly out of necessity. They put an end to activities threatening their ownership and were content to leave things at that.

Edited October 23, 2012 by Artemis

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,825]

YouTube is very strict on its copyright policy. This is one thing I hate about YouTube. In the YouTube situation, people are not pirating the episodes. All they are doing is making it possible for anyone to see whenever they want to without having to go through the download hassle. Unfortunately, several of the episode providers have been taken down by YouTube. They are defenseless against YouTube, which is kinda sad. They clearly say in the description they upload it for entertainment purposes, but YouTube ignores that and they go straight into the chest and take'em down. All of the big time companies work alongside YouTube to protect against infringement. But in my opinion, it is just false. They just want extra money. But YouTube will be YouTube and soon more people will complain and more action will be taken to protect against the termination of one's YouTube account. All of this relates to piracy. Every time a YouTube is terminated on copyright grounds, YouTube is basically accusing one of piracy, which is false.

[GuillermoGage 246]

ZSNES emulator and a copy of Earthbound.

BGB emulator and a copy of Shantae.

 

Two of the rarest video games to ever find legitimately (that are very well-made and written), unless Shantae GBC is on Nintendo 3DS, which I'm not getting a 3DS solely for that.

 

That is all.

 

I watch MLP:FiM on TV whenever possible because there aren't people's YouTube comments and the Internet to distract me.

 

I also always watch it prerecorded on a DVR and skip the commercials. What products that sponsor The Hub am I even going to be a consumer for anyway?? I don't play with toys or consume kiddie junk food.

[GoneForeverBye 184]

Unless I'm going to deal with the terrible dutch dub in like... what, seven in the morning? No, thank you. I take the good voice actors over my moral standards, which is quite difficult to do since I don't have any moral standards.

[Lumen 106]

I pirated the MLP:FiM episodes. They are always available on YouTube but sometimes it's more useful to have them on your hard drive.

 

As for pirating in general, I like supporting all kinds of smaller things like some indie music producers because I know that every little bit can make a big difference. I sometimes pirate stuff made by bigger companies since they got lots of money anyways even though that really doesn't make pirating stuff any more rightful.

 

Also, I hate pirating video games. I respect the video gaming industry and I wish to support it as often as I can.

[Wingnut 7,020]

Most of the MLP episodes I've seen I watched on Youtube. I don't take their presence for granted. Because the fandom is so hot right now, trying to remove all those uploads is akin to stomping on a cockroach infestation. They're uploaded as fast as they're removed. So Hasbro is being pragmatic and letting most of it go for now for the free publicity. But they will delete enough just to make us aware of their long term intentions. Youtube also has to delete a certain number of episodes on their own to avoid lawsuits from copyright owners.

 

I've noticed a lot of uploaders post a fair use disclaimer. The problem with that is fair use only protects small clips at the smallest possible resolution for discussion and educational purposes. A segment of an episode such as this one from Hurricane Fluttershy is a valid example:

 

Squirrel: Squeak, squeak, squeak!

Spike: What did he say?

Twilight: Do I look like I speak squirrel?

 

The serious purpose of posting this small snippet would be to discuss the obvious reference to Tara Strong's previous role as the voice of Bubbles who CAN speak squirrel. But to upload entire episodes, brokent into segments or not, well, Youtube will just laugh at a fair use rationale in that case.

 

I feel no sense of wrongdoing watching episodes on Youtube because I know I'm going to be buying the videos in the future anyway.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Wingnut

[Puddlejumper 1,649]

I snatched the first two seasons from YouTube and they have been watched many times across multiple devices I own. Now, once the seasons are out on DVD I will delete those copies and rip 1080p versions from the disks to use on my tablet and such. If the seasons had been out on disc then I would have just purchased them in the first place.

 

I prefer to support the creators of things, unless it is EA. I loathe EA anymore.

[Pix3M 607]

I support. The very reason why I got myself into this fandom is because people happen to be uploading MLP episodes on youtube. If they were never uploaded, I would never be in the fandom, let alone actually have my own influence on others to try out this show, let alone actually make Hasbro's periphery audience larger. I don't have cable, so I cannot watch MLP on TV.

 

Because of real and actual situations similar to these, the impact of piracy is often wildly exaggerated as people often overlook the power of free advertisement created from piracy. Stealing MLP toys? I won't argue that will hurt. Pirating episodes and uploading them on youtube? You're only hurting yourself if you put the uploading of MLP episodes to a halt so nobody will be able to enjoy your free advertising.

 

I've once wanted to try out Adventure time, but because whoever is in charge wouldn't let people upload episodes, the first impression I got from the show was pretty bad as the only clip I ever found wasn't an actual episode but probably some short that was used to pitch the show. None of the good stuff was around youtube. If I actually liked adventure time (turns out that I won't really like it), then they lost a potential fanboy just because they don't let people upload their episodes.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Pix3M

[Nohbdy 4,108]

Like others, I have some mixed feelings about piracy. I wouldn't have gotten into the fandom if I didn't stumble upon some random episodes on YouTube, since I don't watch TV. Indeed, it's very much free advertisement for Hasbro. On the other hand, the producers can't get any direct compensation from YouTube (although I'm sure they could put up ads on the videos). It's unfortunate that many people are simply content to use YouTube instead of supporting the show. Perhaps that would be less of a problem if there weren't such a social stigma on the MLP franchise.

 

What I did was that I started with some YouTube videos, but then I started supporting the show by getting merchandise once I came out as a brony. I also have plans to buy the complete Season One on DVD.

[Twiliscael 3,962]

Meh, I torrent. I hate to steal from the creators but I just don't have the money to pay for something I could watch for free. I try to convince myself it's morally okay because what difference does just one pirated copy make to a multi million dollar corporation?

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,696]

I had about half of Season 1, but I stopped downloading a while ago and have deleted most of it. I'm paying for Season 1 and the other DVD's instead. It's worth it for the ponies.

[Driz 1,552]

Honestly, I would totally pay for them if I could. But being an underage, I can't work to get my own money, and asking my parents is always a war - specially if it's about a "little kid's cartoon".

 

If there's internet, there's piracy. It's an inevitable convenience. I have always downloaded free stuff illegally, but I try to not feel guilty for it. It facilitates my desires and entertainments just so much, I couldn't stand having to wait until I can pay for it. :|

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

I feel the same as with pirating anything, I don't care. Do it if you want or don't. I'd do it just cause I don't always have money or don't feel like spending any, though I have been known to purchase somethings after pirating them.

[Batbrony 16,087]

I guess I do feel a little bad that I actually haven't supported the show in any fiscal way as of yet; if my main priorities weren't focused on school and finding a job, I'd probably shelve out the money to buy the episodes on Itunes, and I do hope at some point in the near future to get at least one MLP shirt. But I don't feel that bad watching free MLP episodes, largely because Hasbro has supported it so much, or at least all the parody vids that have resulted. I mean, think about, our entire community, in any of our activities on the Internet, including the forums themselves, essentially provide some of the most effective free advertising I've ever heard of for any show. Now, does that mean I'd like to always keep watching free episodes? No, I think I'd like to purchase both seasons at some point down the road, and like I said, hopefully a couple of shirts. Because, when you get down to it, piracy is piracy, and despite the fact that the free MLP episodes on YouTube have played probably the greatest role of any MLP media in building the brony community, we should still support the show monetarily in whatever way we can when we can.