The Case of Internet Piracy was the first of two comic books named Justice Case Files. Produced by the non-profit National Center for State Courts, its claimed purpose was to educate readers about the workings of the U.S. justice system. In the words of NCSC president Mary Campbell McQueen, it would "remind the public of the important role that courts play in a democratic society."
Given this remit, the story it relates is an odd one: Teen-aged Megan is charged as a criminal after downloading music off the Internet. A heartfelt display of contrition in the courtroom saves her from jail, and the story ends with her explaining to the reader how lucky she was to be caught, and why the recording industry's business model is the correct one.
Questions remain. Why would a guide to the court system portray such a vanishingly unlikely legal scenario? Casual file-sharers are offered expensive settlements to avoid civil lawsuits, not charged with theft by "cyber police."
Why would Megan explain RIAA dogma in front of smashed music instruments piled against a wall on which "DO NOT DOWNLOAD" is scrawled in human blood? As a former court reporter, I must admit to being unfamiliar with these legal procedures.
Thanks to reader Tom, you can read it here today and win a copy of your own! Yay! All you have to do is send in the most hilarious remix of any panel or page therein. (Suggestion: Chick Tract mashup) We'll publish the entries after a fair interval and announce a winner.
The comic follows after the jump.
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Oh man this is gonna be RICH!
Great Master seeks new pupils
http://francis-rossi.mybrute.com
Yeah this man is gonna be really rich
Oh my, I never before saw the error of my ways. I promise I’ll never download music again!
I want to see the issue where Justin Timberlake can’t afford a new Trilby Hat.
I actually want to see the issue where the 16 year old is arrested for child-pornography distribution in “THE CASE OF THE *SEXTING STING*”. And then at the end, cuts to him having to go around the neighborhood telling people he’s a sex offender.
SO what it all boils down to … when you download musics off the internet, you are literally murdering your favorite bands in a back alley and tagging the walls with their blood. I thought it was a victimless crime too. Boy, was I wrong.
I don’t get it. What was up with the giant alien squid monster at the end? And the pirate comic? Sorry… sorta drifted there.
Silliness aside, I’m not quite sure I remotely understand the thinking behind this. The content makes sense – it presents their point of view (whether we agree with that or not) but the idea of doing it as comic seems to suggest that they were trying to reach an audience who they blatantly haven’t actually researched. I suppose this isn’t anything new but you would think that they would put a little bit of effort into their work.
Somebody should start up a band called Cruel Mantra who have a policy of giving all their music away for free.
Issue 2 revolves around identity theft, I think. Haven’t got up the nerve to actually read it. (I do have copies sitting around somewhere.)
oh oh oh just a thought. In addition to my idea above of somebody starting a band called Cruel Mantra, the band’s lyrics could also all be anti-copyright.
I kept waiting for Peter Parker to show up and save his poor Auntie there.
Also, that’s a very nice house for $120K. How old is this comic?
Watch out, folks. The RIAA is coming to get you, and your poor grandma too.
Oh, this is just ridiculous.
I can’t believe I read that. It was so, so bad. I do think it needs to be mashed up with a Chick Tract – it’s about 90% of the way to one already.
Flipping through,I believe the point they’re making is ‘it’s not a victimless crime because if you get caught,we’ll sue your arse off and your little aunt could lose her home to pay the legal fees. P.S. the legal system works. P.P.S. House values may go up as well as down.’ Not a whole lot of talk about artists there – it’s more like a large company advertising that it could ruin your life,so behave or else.
The single shot of abandoned musical instruments surrounded by crime scene tape is out of the same impulse that motivated FOX News to put an exploding van in its documentary on ‘Anonymous’: ‘You can panic now’. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouCanPanicNow
The thing is, they aren’t trying to make a point about the actual issues. Their concern is solely to try and teach people about the court system. They tried to do this by taking subjects ripped from the headlines. But they didn’t take the time to actually research those issues. That they preached the RIAA party line is a consequence of ignorance rather than malfeasance.
From their perspective, they’re not worried about inaccuracies in the subject matter because those are just fictional stories. They expect the public to make the distinction between the process the cases follow and the subject matter of the cases themselves. This is, of course, a ridiculous expectation. But it’s the world they live in, so it’s an obvious distinction to them.
It didn’t help that they picked a company that does, well, weird-ass comics to actually produce the comic.