Humphrey Bogart Says You Must Remember This . . . We’ll Always Have Piracy No Matter What Contracts Say

I couldn’t resist posting this anti-piracy video from Warner Bros.  To make this video, the creators edited Casablanca dialogue (between the legendary Humphrey DeForest Bogart himself and the luminous Ingrid Bergman) and inserted various white on black statements like:

“Rick Is Really Upset”

“The Woman He Loves Is Pirating DVDs”

“No Matter How You Say It . . .”

“Pirating Is Stealing”

“Rick’s Feelings Tell Him Piracy Is Wrong”

“Deep Down Ilsa Feels It Too”

“Making Time With Victor’s Girl: Good”

“Pirating DVDs: Bad”

Look, I suppose I’m against rampant copying, too, but there’s something so heavy handed and Orwellian about the film and music industries’ efforts to curb piracy.  These people have brought us the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (which tries to eviscerate fair use rights that are the bedrock of copyright law), have repeatedly sued low income individuals (without even proving that they actually pirated anything), force onerous licensing agreements and contracts on consumers, and wield tremendous political pressure to enlist our nation’s law enforcement officers and trade negotiators in their cause (when many other businesses that suffer from wrongdoing can’t even get the time of day from the government).  Even the Obama Administration recently came out in support of the $150,000 per infringement penalty.

Hearts and minds, Mr. Selznick, hearts and minds.

Click here to see it in all its glory.

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