MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Monty Python's interesting 'solution' to piracy (YouTube, that is).

Shaggy · 01-26-2009, 02:38 PM

They've had this mindset for a long time. I was involved in a Monty Python USENET group around 15 years ago. Back then the big thing was scripts of their movies and TV series (video files and YouTube didn't really exist). I used to run a ftp site that hosted a lot of their material. I contacted them before I did it, obviously, and their opinion was that they were perfectly fine with making their scripts available for free as long as we did two things. 1) Don't make a compilation available, each skit had to be individual files and 2) Advertise that you can buy the scripts in a bookstore (which were available as a compilation).

Their attitude (same with the recent stuff on YouTube) was that you give individual bits at a time away for free, and then advertise that you can buy it in a more convenient package (Books, DVDs, etc).

01-26-2009, 02:38 PM	#3
Shaggy Wizard Posts: 4,293 Karma: 529619 Join Date: May 2007 Device: iRex iLiad, DR800SG	They've had this mindset for a long time. I was involved in a Monty Python USENET group around 15 years ago. Back then the big thing was scripts of their movies and TV series (video files and YouTube didn't really exist). I used to run a ftp site that hosted a lot of their material. I contacted them before I did it, obviously, and their opinion was that they were perfectly fine with making their scripts available for free as long as we did two things. 1) Don't make a compilation available, each skit had to be individual files and 2) Advertise that you can buy the scripts in a bookstore (which were available as a compilation). Their attitude (same with the recent stuff on YouTube) was that you give individual bits at a time away for free, and then advertise that you can buy it in a more convenient package (Books, DVDs, etc).