Hollywood foundation built on piracy.

**miker** · March 11th, 2004, 08:40 PM

It's on the internet. It must be true.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.03/lessig.html

If piracy means using the creative property of others without their permission, then the history of the content industry is a history of piracy. Every important sector of big media today - film, music, radio, and cable TV - was born of a kind of piracy. The consistent story is how each generation welcomes the pirates from the last. Each generation - until now.

The Hollywood film industry was built by fleeing pirates. Creators and directors migrated from the East Coast to California in the early 20th century in part to escape controls that film patents granted the inventor Thomas Edison. These controls were exercised through the Motion Pictures Patents Company, a monopoly "trust" based on Edison's creative property and formed to vigorously protect his patent rights. California was remote enough from Edison's reach that filmmakers like Fox and Paramount could move there and, without fear of the law, pirate his inventions. Hollywood grew quickly, and enforcement of federal law eventually spread west. But because patents granted their holders a truly "limited" monopoly of just 17 years (at that time), the patents had expired by the time enough federal marshals appeared. A new industry had been founded, in part from the piracy of Edison's creative property.

Arrrr, mateys!

**Nigel** · March 11th, 2004, 09:21 PM

Piracy to me is the theft of a tangable good or service. So in the context of the article perhaps......However, I am not familar with the patents granted to Edison and I have not heard that spin on history. So I can't comment on that.

Todays Hollywood is scared of a different kind of Pirate all together. For todays Hollywood it is not about stealing the process but stealing the product.

Good Luck

[ March 11, 2004 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Nigel ]

**miker** · March 11th, 2004, 10:49 PM

I was at least hoping for a Lumiere comment [img]wink.gif[/img]

I know more people who pirate porn than pirate Hollywood movies. I just don't know how those pornographers put dinner on the table nowadays ...

**miker** · March 12th, 2004, 08:07 AM

lol, that's a *very* good point!

**thetokyobombdisaster** · March 12th, 2004, 09:01 AM

Originally posted by miker:
I just don't know how those pornographers put dinner on the table nowadays ...

By doing like atleast 100+ films in six months...

**eidde** · March 12th, 2004, 10:17 AM

[ March 12, 2004 07:30 AM: Message edited by: eidde ]

**Alex** · March 12th, 2004, 04:59 PM

Wasn't Edison the one who stole from Tesla? [img]confused.gif[/img]

**Nigel** · March 13th, 2004, 04:08 AM

The big Edison Vs. Tesla debate was about DC Vs. AC.

It was Edison who wanted to only use DC and Tesla wanted AC. Edison invented the electric chair as an attempt to scare people away from AC by saying it was far to dangerous.

Remember it was Edison who ripped off a lovely Brit named Joseph Swan and now sits upon the thrown as the "Inventor" of the light bulb.

Good Luck