i've been lurking off and on around here for a long time, rarely wanting to post. but i'm very surprised that no one has been talking about this, so i might as well bring up the topic. this may ruffle some feathers, but i can't apologize for that.
ok, those who went to katsucon know that vicbond was selling dvds of his amvs at the con. i kind of assume he was selling them at cost, but i don't know what price he set. something about this just hits me in the pit of my stomach. i mean, sure, lots of amv authors hand out cds of their videos at cons, and offer them for download, and send them over instant messenger. but selling them? it doesn't really matter how high quality the media is or what the cost is, if money changes hands then it's selling. i'd always thought it taboo to sell amvs.
the moment vic stepped up to the mic after recieving one of his three awards and effectively said "buy my dvd" has to be one of the most frightening moments in my time as an amv fan and amv author. did it suddenly become okay to sell material you don't have the rights to? even if your moral glands are mostly nonfunctional, you should know that moment itself was dangerous to the community, and may have set a dangerous precedent.
if you don't know why this is dangerous, i'll explain. we can't forget that amvs use copyrighted material, anime and music. even if a series hasn't been picked up for a domestic release, international copyright does forbid its unauthorized use. we don't have the permission to use the materials we use in amvs. if our amvs ever leave our hands, whether in real life or online, we've actually committed a crime. we can't forget that. the reason anime companies haven't cracked down on the amv community is, i assume, because amvs are probably good advertising. as for the music industry, they probably have bigger fish to fry. the companies have so far looked the other way. if the topic ever comes up in court, however, they can't just "allow" amvs to exist as they are, because they'd lose their copyright.
all well and good, right? but the companies holding the copyrights for these animes and these songs would not sit still if they found out that amv authors are not simply being fans anymore and are instead selling media containing the companies' copyrighted material. i mean, how far do you think we can edge into these companies' copyrights before they will feel as though they must defend themselves?
i think the line has been crossed, and it scares the hell out of me. the anime companies are well within their rights to prevent amv contests at conventions. they're well within their rights to shut us all down if they feel it's necessary. at an industry panel i attended at a convention last year, someone whom i believe was from adv was asked what his company thinks of amvs. he replied that he wished people wouldn't make amvs, because then the companies wouldn't have to worry about what it means for them.
how are they supposed to look the other way when we're now selling these things? i certainly don't want to take the chance.
i didn't want to sound like i was on a soapbox. but regardless of whether or not you believe the companies would ever crack down on the amv community, this what i really wanted to yell out at katsucon: you're selling material that you do not have the rights to. that is wrong. end of story.
that was a lot of typing. am i alone in feeling this is wrong? has anyone thought about any of this? is anyone else worried about what it means?





