Reason Magazine interviewed Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of SOUTH PARK, at a 3-day conference on free speech in Amsterdam.They're in favor of giving their stuff away.
Reason: When it looked like Comedy Central wasn’t going to rerun the Mary episode, people were still able to download it illegally online. Did you see that as a victory for free speech, or did you think, “My God, these people are stealing our intellectual property”?
Stone: We’re always in favor of people downloading. Always.
Reason: Why?
Stone: It’s how a lot of people see the show. And it’s never hurt us. We’ve done nothing but been successful with the show. How could you ever get mad about somebody who wants to see your stuff?
Hat tip to the site where I saw this -- and I can't find where that was right now.
Thank you so much for postng this Mike! I'm gonna see if I can find this, I saw it too...
ReplyDeleteOffering free Web content to those who want it is a hot issue among creators. Arguably, Stone & Parker have enough money.
ReplyDeleteI've also read that successful fiction authors who give their work away on the Web have not seen their print sales decline. Just the opposite.
But -- yeah -- I can't remember where I first read this yesterday.