Credible Sources for a Pro Bootleg Essay? — Page 2

I would encourage you to look for sources that aren't specifically about theatre, but art in general. You'll probably have more luck there. There are going to be more credible sources that talk about free or bootlegged art. Then you can connect the specifics of theatre to those sources. Also look for sources about how television and recordings have changed the way the public consumes art. Don't be so literal with sources. Your paper is still an opinion paper, not a strictly factual research paper.

Gypsy, I understand your feeling but you also have to understand that the essence of theatre is that it is live and ephemeral. There are many things I would love to have been present for, but that's not how it works. You have to feel good that most of those people who DID see those original productions you covet willnever see the many shows originating now that you do have a chance of seeing.

I do not have a moral issue with copyrights, but I do have a moral issue with invading the privacy of people who perform in shows not intending that they be preserved for my entertainment. In that sense, watching a bootleg is a form of voyeurism, not unlike wishing you could see your hot next door neighbor taking a shower but knowing that punching a peephole in the bathroom wall is wrong.

And Wilmingtom, yes you can watch those films under false pretenses with little chance of being called on it unless you do something extreme-just like you can cheat on your income taxes and get away with it more often than not.

The only way I could see this working as a topic is if you investigate why the TOFT feels that they can use bootleg videos of shows they missed filming and make them a part of their resources (the original productions of Merrily We Roll Along and Big Deal being two examples). But that seems a long way from the original thesis suggested for this essay....

EricMontreal22 said:

The only way I could see this working as a topic is if you investigate why the TOFT feels that they can use bootleg videos of shows they missed filming and make them a part of their resources (the original productions of Merrily We Roll Along and Big Deal being two examples).

TOFT does not have any video of Big Deal, bootleg or otherwise. The only footage the archive has from that show is the number performed on the Tony Awards of 1986. TOFT does have a number of illegally-produced videos, most of which were confiscated by Actors' Equity or other theater unions, and handed over to the library. They can be viewed in the TOFT screening room under the same rules as the other, legally-made archival tapes. And of course, the library does not profit off these viewings in any way. I'm not sure what there is to "investigate."

EricMontreal22 said: "Is viewing a video for "personal research" (the reason I gave to see the Prince Company video last month) the same as cheating your way out of taxes?"

If you are legitimately researching and not simply using your reason as a pretext, then no it is not. But lots of people take vacations that they write off by saying they are researching something, and some of those writeoffs are not legit either. Only you know and only you have to be comfortable with yourself. That's why I said what I said above. Unlike the IRS, of course, I doubt there is a way you could be sent to the pokey for lying to the nice employee who helped you at the library.