http://smartflix.com/store/category/42/Jewelry-Making
I ran across this website and thought it would be useful for those
who are in the camp of using visual aids in learning a new technique.
I have not rented any of DVD’s but thought it would be a good
reference site.
Michael
Smartflix rents jewelry how-to videos with NO compensation to any of
the artists. They claim it is legal, but that is not quite the case.
They are parasites.
To their advantage, copyright laws in the USA are extremely
difficult to enforce and put the burden of lawyers’ fees on the
looser in any case that goes to trial. At a fraction of the cost of
the purchase price of many jewelry DVD’s, someone could rent several
from the site, but it is unethical, and a great way to ensure that
fewer titles will be released.
Why should Rio Grande put big bucks into producing videos such as
Alan Revere’s only to have a third party keep a chunk of the revenue?
Perhaps Rio is big enough to take the hit, but that does not make the
rentals acceptable nor does it inspire individuals and smaller
companies to make readily available in the future.
My own self produced production cost over 10K because of the length
and complexity of the technique and the quality I wished to put
forth. Built into the cost of any commercial movie released on DVD,
is the reality that people will rip them, but in order to keep
retail costs down, such small, niche market, instructional DVD’s
can’t usually have such loss built in.
Smartflix hits the “little guys” and literally takes money out of
artists’ mouths. Their president claims that because they have bought
three copies of my DVD (surreptitiously and without disclosing their
intent), I should be grateful for the revenue instead of angered by
the loss of more. I am not grateful.
I’d like to think we have an ethical community here that supports
the exchange of as well as the artists we all look to for
inspiration. I’m sure Michael, nor anyone else looking at their site
would have assumed that artists are not compensated for repeat
rentals. Please help spread the word!
Thanks,
Victoria
Victoria Lansford
Smartflix rents jewelry how-to videos with NO compensation to any of the artists. They claim it is legal, but that is not quite the case. They are parasites.
Isn’t this essentially what libraries do when they let you check out
books, videos and other materials?
David Luck
www.davidluckjewelry.com
No libraries buy specific items for library use and pay the fee in
purchase for redistribution.
Teri sho has a best friend who is. “I am a libraian!”
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
Isn't this essentially what libraries do when they let you check out books, videos and other materials?
Not really, a library does not charge you to view the book, video
etc. on a per use basis. Smartflix is more akin to a Blockbuster
type video rental business. I belive that video rental companies must
pay some form of royalty to the copyright owner and apparently this
is not happening here.
James Binnion
@James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
360-756-6550
Isn't this essentially what libraries do when they let you check out books, videos and other materials?
No, because libraries aren’t making a profit at someone else’s
expense. Also, they are providing a service to the community at large
without the use of slick marketing to ensure repeat rentals to a
particular niche market.
If you spend much time at one, you’ll notice that most of the books
are different from the copies you’d buy from a bookstore. (Publishers
even print copies specifically for libraries.)
Victoria
Victoria Lansford
Smartflix rents jewelry how-to videos with NO compensation to any of the artists.
Well, of course they bought the videos, didn’t they? By the way go
here: http://smartflix.com/help/legal and read. I just glanced at
this thread, and thought, “Hmmm, Smartflix. What’s that?” Well, what
a cool place. The jewelry is sparse - lots of Alan Revere, and Tim
McCreight but otherwise… But there’s how to do magic and card
tricks and build RC circuits and make guitars and knives and juggle
and archery and calculus and physics and machine shop and
woodworking and tig welding and painting a car and how to use all
sorts of software and on and on. Check it out… smartflix.com
By the way go heRe: http://smartflix.com/help/legal and read. I just glanced at this thread, and thought, "Hmmm, Smartflix. What's that?"
It’s a bit naive to assume that the legal listed on
SmartFlix’s own site is completely correct and true of the varying
complexities of copyright law.
Further research and 4 different lawyers provided me with more
accurate It isn’t that SmartFlix operates exactly within
the law; it’s that they know few could pay the exceptionally huge
expense of taking them to court over copyright violation, which you
too would know if you had read my initial email.
Yes, they paid for 3 copies, ordered separately and rather
anonymously.
Do you believe that if you sell three pieces of jewelry, you can
afford to give away 30?
Do you not expect to be compensated for your time, energy,
expertise, and efforts?
Do you believe that those of us with special artistic skills are
bound by any particular set of morals to give our time and expertise
away and are not deserving of using our talents to pay our mortgages
or put our children through college?
If so, such attitudes are what keep the arts struggling in most
economies.
Victoria
Victoria Lansford
Isn't this essentially what libraries do when they let you check out books, videos and other materials?
Libraries don’t rent their items, they loan them out, it’s not a
money making business. OK, so maybe there’s a minimal charge for
borrowing DVDs and such, but it’s not really for them to MAKE money.
As opposed to books, which they would loan out for free, I suppose
they need to charge a small fee (some don’t charge at all, I think,
other’s just $1 or so) to cover the eventual replacement cost more
easily since those items wear out; that’s not such a concern with
books. This other service just obtains copies as you or I would, but
then uses them to make money for themselves.
Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher