Can you help me solve an ethical dilemma?

buy it when it actually comes out. :)

Get the bootlegs now.

I am in the entertainment business and am often times faced with the same dilemma.

The day I saw “No Country for Old Men” I had to have a copy of it to study, no matter the quality.

So I had a Chinese contact send me “No Country” (complete with Snakes on a plane information on the back for some reason) and counted down the days until I could pre-order “No Country.’

The moment I was able to pre-order it, I did. It is still illegal, I will admit, but I had already committed to purchasing it and my friend was buried in them.

I would not go out of my way to purchase one because that supports their industry.

I usually get Oscar screeners sent to me from the academy, but for some reason “No Country” was not in my pile. :(

Jeeze, that’s a tough one. Espically sense its old and might not make it out soon. I guess it all depends on how bad you want it. Ask yourself that as many times as you need to. Surley if you explain the situation to your girlfriend then she’ll understand. Just make a pact to get it the day it is released, if it gets released. Ask yourself, as an artist, would you want someone doing something similar to you? The golden rule is always right, even though it sucks sometimes.

what show is it??

think of it as being a “preview” I usually download to preview then if I like it actually buy the real thing.

If your going to have ethics you have to stick to them.

Would stealing be fine because it only costs a $1 and not $100?

I circumvent all of this by having no ethics and loose morals.

If you feel strongly that you shouldn’t pirate, don’t. It sounds like you’re looking for a way to justify behavior you think is wrong.

Consider exactly what you think is unethical—is it watching/owning the TV shows without paying the actual creator for them? Would sending someone a check for $50 or $100 cover it? Or a commitment, that you follow through on, that you’ll buy the DVDs when they come out?

And remember that things may be illegal when they’re not unethical – I routinely convert DVDs to MPEG files for watching on my iPod, then delete them when I’m done. Illegal, but not unethical.

If it doesn’t exist on DVD, then I’d argue it’s not technically piracy. If there’s no other way to obtain this show other than through a bootleg, the original makers aren’t losing any money, are they? In fact, you’re keeping alive a show that for all intents and purposes is dead. I agree that if it ever DOES come out on DVD, you should ditch the bootleg and get a legit copy, but if there are no plans as of now for a DVD release, I don’t see an issue.

@paulipaul: Intellectual property isn’t only about money. Perhaps the show isn’t on DVD because the creators don’t want it on DVD?

@cwilbur: Possibly, but more likely it’s a feud between the studio that produced the series and the studio that distributed it.