Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Wired writes about the underground spread of the Global Frequency pilot....

4:48 PM

2 Comments:

I'm not sure how I feel about this whole P2P file sharing business. I like the fact that I could, if I wanted to (but I don't), download music, movies and TV shows from new artists/performers/producers as well as old favourites. But, really, it is copyright infringement which, I think, is far more advangateous for the illegal downloader than it is for the artist being violated.

I can't imagine what good it might have done for you and the rest of CJ's cast/writers/producers if the first 2 or 3 episodes had been available for download on a P2P network several weeks before the show's debut on regular television, as was the case with Battlestar Galactica. Sure, it gets the fans hyped. But having the series available on P2P is also a major spoiler that could possibly affect the ratings of the series when it finally airs on regular television, and fewer eyeballs on the screen results in a cancelled TV show.

Then there's the situation where we have a series that never makes it to air and is only available on a P2P network, as is the case with Global Frequency. It definitely gets the word out about a great new show that got canned before it even had a chance to win an audience but I'm still undecided as to whether this form of marketing and promotion does more harm than good.

If my series got the green light to air on regular television and then I learned that the pilot was available on P2P several weeks before its telelvision debut, I'd be furious! I'd hunt down the little mother-f**kers who were responsible for the leak and have them thrown in jail, their spouses sold into slavery and their children thrown off the roof of the highest building I could find. However, if my series had been axed before it had even gone to air I would most definitely (secretly) have it made available on P2P, if only to have all of my hard work, my DREAM, see the light of day and develop the loyal international fan following it was meant to have.

By  Kelly J. Crawford, at 12:50 PM  

In this particular case I feel like the Bittorrent downloaders were doing the equivalent of rummaging through someone's trash. Doesn't hurt anyone, and rescues a nice piece of furniture. I'm sure everyone who downloaded it would much rather have seen it full screen on television. I'm against copyright violations in general. But if a network's going to toss all of dozens of people's work in the trash, I don't feel too bad if other people take it out of the trash and broadcast it as the network should have done in the first place.

By  Alex Epstein, at 1:23 PM  

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