Agreed, although there are still legal issues I don't feel there is as big a problem when you're just offering some prizes. Especially over the few occasions when the con is sponsored. Technically I guess this is making a big deal over very little though, now that I think about it. Making a profit really goes to damages in a copyright matter, since there are presumed damages anway for an infringement regardless of what you were doing (provided there is in fact an infringement). Showing an earning of profit or at least an intent to do so certainly won't make things any better and likely will make them somewhat worse but at the end of the day it's not the make or break factor here.madmallard wrote:In my view, the problem isn't confined to AMVs.
Any endeavor that claims to be fan-based or fan-promoting i feel has a credibility problem with offering cash prizes.
A prize in a con shouldn't be cash, it should be something that in some way enhances the fandom it derives from. The prize can be very valuable, thats not the issue. Cash is a cop-out to me....
We'll just have to wait and see. I'm not its director, and I'm not its attendee, so anything else I have to say on the matter is only academic.
Realistically I think the bigger concern on the prizes is how much attention it draws. People who aren't operating for a profit don't attact as much attention as people that do or people that deprive the copyright holder of a profit. Prior to this we (arguably) were doing neither so there was less attention. But some article saying "Hey, you can make $10k by using someone else's work" certainly won't attract the right kind of attention.
