And So, It Starts...

I went to watch some of my favorite YouTube videos today, and four of them are gone. They were pirated videos of a popular musical, someone snuck into the theater with their camcorder and then posted these videos of the performance. The videos were removed from YouTube due to a claim from the Actor's Equity Association.

I'm sad that the videos aren't available anymore. I really loved the performances.

I knew it would happen sooner or later. I was hoping maybe they could stay up as a sort of advertising for the show, so people who hadn't had the opportunity to see the whole show might decide to go see it after all.

But, I believe the right thing is being done. Copyrighted material should be respected. I have favorited official videos when they're available. But am I guilty by association for having favorited some of these pirated videos?

I think this is just the beginning. Eighty to ninety percent of what's on YouTube is pirated and in violation of copyright laws. It's the Napster MP3 thing all over again.

Power to the copyright laws! Power to the Actor's Equity Association! Power to the Writer's Guild! Power to the Screen Actor's Guild, when that goes down next summer!