I must admit, that I recently watched The Nines, and yes it was a torrent. My local video rental store only had 2 copies, both of which were not available, and I do not really have the money to run out and buy it right now.

However, after having watched it and seen what an amazing film it was, I will definitely be purchasing the DVD. I am an aspiring film maker myself, and love watching the extras, especially commentaries. But mostly, I will be paying for it because it’s the right thing to do, and because you deserve to be paid for your work.

If I want to rewatch the nines, or if it’s an instant classic to me, I’ll get the dvd. :)

I happen to be a big torrenter and uploader actually… not exactly a darling of your industry, and i’m one of those people that saw The Nines online a few weeks ago. In fact I “e-cinned” it with 2-3 other people and I just want you to know that we were all blown away. The film was brilliant, truly brilliant and though this may be a bit silly, one of the highest compliments I can give to a film is to buy the DVD. I already had the intention to do so after viewing the film, despite having a high quality sitting on my hard drive, and your posts have made that decision a definite. In fact I was linked to your blog after a friend I viewed it with msned me, and I am so happy he did. Rest assured, not only will I be buying this DVD, I will be recommending it to friends and family FOR PURCHASE. There will be no burning of this one for anyone as a result of your great words on an issue that has been wrongly addressed for ages. Once again, thank you for your Brilliant film and your incredible attitude.

Phara

Just because it won’t personally affect you much ‘this time’ doesn’t mean you should be any less committed to the principle of copyright (and the theft thereof), if that is what you truly believe……

I really hope you do well, as if this particular movie is a good representation of your talent, you certainly have much of it.

HP is doing exactly that http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-fi-hp24jan24,1,3807114.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

Worse, a smaller film like Hostel: Part 2, which may be quite good, has a slim viewership—lost income can mean the death of future films like it. This is John August’s primary concern, I think, as The Nines appeals to a smarter, and thus smaller, crowd.

This brings up another angle to the issue—should we not care if mediocre films are ripped off? After all, if the filmmakers made a mediocre movie, they really don’t deserve to get any income at all, right? I mean, it’s not enough that a mediorcre film gets bad reviews, but now we should steal the light bulbs, too, right? In the real world, if your home doesn’t have an alarm, I can break into it because it’s really your own fault for not building a strong enough of a protection system? Or because you’re only somewhat popular in the neighborhood? Obviously, no. Piracy is equal to forcing authors to busk without permission… and while that helps some films, it is lethal to other films. There are already several systems in place to allow viewers to choose which films they should invest their time in, and which are a waste of time. I offer Rotten Tomatoes’ review of AVP:R as evidence.

The sad reality is, as much as everyone complains about it, piracy is not going away. The winner of the 21st century’s digital entertainment distribution wars is the person or company who finds a way to make money off of piracy. My bet is on using BT to exclusively release movies—unbelievably cheap compared to printing a hard copy of a film for a wide theatrical release—and embed paid advertising overlays. If a film gets great word of mouth and the advertiser sees their sales increase, DVDs could a wide release in retail stores, but if not, DVDs are only sold online, either via mass production or, in a worst case scenario, with print-on-demand DVDs.

Now, (When the movie is released here in the US) I will be purchasing a copy.

Count that as +1 for BT advertising.

I’ve been reading yyou blog for about a year and a half. I’ve been anxiously awaiting an opprtunity to see The Nines. It never came to Edmonton, Alberta. I checked about 2 months ago on torrent sites to see if I could download it (I was in a major mood to watch it). Since it’s so close to DVD release now I’ll just buy it and watch it then… however if it wasn’t I’d download it for sure. I’m a HUGE movie fan – even working on making them myself one day – and I would download it because I want to see it ASAP.

As for the re-cutting possibility – that would be one of the best things ever for me. I’ve discussed with friends that I wish that was available for me to do. Because I’d love to be able to understand what it’s like cutting a feature together (rather than just the shorts we make).

So if it happens, I will be the first to download it. I even suggest you make a sing-up page so people can be informed when it’s (if it’s) available. Heck, I’ll do it for you if you’d like.

Thank you John, Shawn

It probably doesn’t. But if a film is weak, not much will help it. Should we really feel bad if mediocre films aren’t financially rewarded?