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Donkey Kong Poster Ethical Question
Not sure if it belongs here on the Porch, but really don't know where else to ask this, so here goes(mods,please delete if inappropriate):
Hypothetically, say that out of 20-25 PJ concerts you had attended, there were 2 that just really floored you (Borgata 05 and MSG II 2010), and say you just really wanted both posters but they were hard to find and way overpriced, found one and overpaid a little, can't find the other one and if you could, you couldn't afford it anyway. Hypothetically speaking, if you knew that the elusive poster could be copied, reproduced to look very good, but you made sure it was a little bit different so if you knew what the authentic one looked like you would know the difference, and had no plans on ever selling it, you just wanted to hang it on the wall, and the price was affordable, would it be ethical to have a copy made? I'm just interested in hearing opinions on this.
Flame away!!!
Hypothetically, say that out of 20-25 PJ concerts you had attended, there were 2 that just really floored you (Borgata 05 and MSG II 2010), and say you just really wanted both posters but they were hard to find and way overpriced, found one and overpaid a little, can't find the other one and if you could, you couldn't afford it anyway. Hypothetically speaking, if you knew that the elusive poster could be copied, reproduced to look very good, but you made sure it was a little bit different so if you knew what the authentic one looked like you would know the difference, and had no plans on ever selling it, you just wanted to hang it on the wall, and the price was affordable, would it be ethical to have a copy made? I'm just interested in hearing opinions on this.
Flame away!!!
Journey Begins: 1992-08-15, Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center,
Scranton, Pennsylvania
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2010: Newark 5/18 MSG 5/20-21 2011: PJ20 9/3-4 2012: Made In America 9/2
2013: Brooklyn 10/18-19 Philly 10/21-22 Hartford 10/25 2014: ACL10/12
2015: NYC 9/23 2016: Tampa 4/11 Philly 4/28-29 MSG 5/1-2 Fenway 8/5+8/7
2017: RRHoF 4/7 2018: Fenway 9/2+9/4 2021: Sea Hear Now 9/18
2022: MSG 9/11 2024: MSG 9/3-4 Philly 9/7+9/9 Fenway 9/15+9/17
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
I used to "need" every poster to every PJ show I've ever been to, until one of my best shows ever to date (Oakland 2013) had one of the worst posters I've ever seen and you couldn't pay me to put it in my portfolio, and thus the cycle was broken. Now for me the most important physical mementos of a show are my ticket stub, pictures and the bootleg
1. You already know the proper moral answer - no. If you were confident it wouldn't be wrong, you wouldn't have asked the question. Deep down you already know
2. And you know the proper ethical answer - no - which is why companies like Staples will or should refuse to make the copy.
3. Heck I had trouble getting my daughters senior photo on her graduation cake since we didn't take the photo; we had paid a photographer a ton of money, by the way. The image we wanted reproduced was of a family member, not a limited piece of art that is bought and sold for market value, and the canvas was a cake that would be eaten and I had to argue with the store about it.
Further, there are fakes that exist for a few posters from the past 20 years and it completely destroys the market for collectors of those posters. Showbox 2004, Phoenix 98 are just a couple that come to mind. Once people go this route trust is destroyed for trades and sales of these posters.
If people go this route, entire collections will be deemed worthless, as people won't know what's real from a copy. This is a slippery slope and I hope people don't do this.
Finally, and most importantly... How do you think the artists feel about this? Think they would be fine with it? I don't.
If you were ever going to try to sell or trade the copy as an authentic Kong, that's where you get into unethical territory.
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Do any of you who feel this is unethical use a DVR? Ever ripped a CD to MP3s to put on your iPod?
I think this is a non-issue as long as it is strictly for personal use.
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do what you want.
unethical would be selling one on ebay for a cool $529, advertising it as mint when it was far from it. which is the exact thing that happened to a member just the other day.
people need to get a grip around here, eh?
Serioulsy. If you get a copy made for YOURSELF, that you hang in YOUR house, there is absolutely no harm in that. I would totally do that.
Again, if you're copying and selling(which we all know your aren't) then that's a different story.
no reputable printer is going to copy a copywrighted work like that. if he can do it himself or knows someone personally maybe they do it for him, but taking it somewhere it's probably not going to get done.
I'm no patent attorney, but I wouldn't be so sure about that. My last question and then I'll stop, but there are a lot of interesting opinions on this.
What if it was not a "copy" but a print of a jpeg that is in the "public domain?"
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The OP clearly has no intention to sell or make money so that's cool but once this starts there's always some asshole who sees the chance to profit ...
The Hartford 98 was copied/reproduced and Raleigh 98. People are now ultra careful around those prints.
For those mocking the 'it's only a rock poster'... Yes it is but it's often something that costs a grand or more. A serious investment so you can deride it all you like but if the fake is made really good ( again this isn't about the OP who presents a different position altogether ) then you are potentially damaging valuable items out there through uncertainty and mistrust in that market
If the reproduction is purposefully made different, then it's a different matter entirely. An attempt to make a product that can double as an original isn't cool to me
I'm no patent attorney, but I wouldn't be so sure about that. My last question and then I'll stop, but there are a lot of interesting opinions on this.
What if it was not a "copy" but a print of a jpeg that is in the "public domain?"
not sure but my best guess is a printer will not do that either. i imagine it is kind of a gray area with a jpeg but i think to protect themselves without permission a printer wouldn't do it.
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-if you stick to never selling it
-if its "originality" or "authenticity" doesn't matter to you
for example, there is a promotional item that is nearly impossible to find (Canadian band memoribilia from the 90's is IMPOSSIBLE to find), and so I thought about re-creating it myself. I'd know it isn't original, from their fanclub, etc, but why do I care? I enjoy having the physical item, and looking at the liner notes, so why not?
turns out I contacted the bass player on twitter and asked him, and he said "if you do it, send me a copy too, as I don't even have one! just don't advertize it". I guess he wouldn't want it publicized and the record company find out about it.
it honestly hurts no one.
www.headstonesband.com
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totally fucked up the quote feature.
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