
Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special" - jamesbritt
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143581710/louis-c-k-reflects-on-louie-loss-love-and-life?ft=1&f=1008
======
jrockway
One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to
pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is
easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users.

Also, I was kind of upset by the "letter" that the person who uploaded the
torrent wrote. "Art is meant to be shared"? Why bother justifying it with
something that sounds stupid when you could just say nothing or say, "I
thought people might want to get it this way, so here it is". Depressing.

And finally, I never realized that Louis C.K. was so mainstream. I thought his
humor appealed to me and maybe three other people. Oh well :)

~~~
chwahoo
"One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to
pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is
easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users."

That's hardly a "factual error". I can email an mp3 to my friend and have them
play it. I can't do the same with a DRM'd song. Is that not harder? Instead I
have to make extra efforts to strip the DRM or find a non-DRM'd version
elsewhere. For non-technical users, it might actually be "hard" to pirate
DRM'd content.

While the article could/should have taken care to make the subtle point that
you allude to, I find it's phrasing less disingenuous than yours.

~~~
pyre
I think the point the parent was making is that all it takes it one person
stripping the DRM and the content is on the Internet (torrents, usenet,
private ftps, etc). It might not be easy to share person-to-person (for non-
technical users), but if one just searches the Internet the content would be
there somewhere.

~~~
ColdSnickersBar
Non-technical users are almost every single user in the world. So, if DRM
prevents just those people from being able to simply email a video to a
friend, then it actually is preventing most "pirating".

~~~
pyre
It prevents person-to-person sharing for non-technical users _of the original
content_. The real question is: How hard is it for a non-technical user to
find and download a pirated version from the Internet?

It's the difference between:

    
    
      Hey! This track is awesome lemme email it to you.
    

and

    
    
      Hey! This track is awesome. Google for a pirated version
      of it!

~~~
ColdSnickersBar
Almost everyone on the internet doesn't know what a torrent is, and would stop
at trying to email it to a friend. The larger share of the market IS being
prevented from sharing by DRM.

~~~
nitrogen
They don't have to know what a torrent is to search for "How do I watch season
4 episode 2 of MY_FAVORITE_SHOW for free?" and eventually find a torrent or
working video stream.

------
aspir
This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love
to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self
funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the
CC production.

~~~
yan
First, I think what Louis is doing is amazing and am a huge fan. Having said
that however, how many other comedians can pull this off? He has a very large,
very dedicated audience. Likewise for music. Trent Reznor can pull off very
successful self-productions, but he's also Trent Reznor.

The question is, how can you make this model scale down to lesser-known acts?

~~~
blhack
Well...look at stuff like Minecraft. Notch was nobody, he just made something
that people wanted.

~~~
yan
Notch was also an anomaly. I agree that it's a beautiful story, but rules
aren't defined by their exceptions.

~~~
cbs
Success is an anomaly.

~~~
_delirium
That's not much of a useful consideration then; a more relevant question is
how some non-negligible percentage of people can achieve at least moderate
success, not how a handful of people can do something anomalous that gets
famous (that'll always happen one way or another).

~~~
cbs
_how some non-negligible percentage of people can achieve at least moderate
success, not how a handful of people can do something anomalous that gets
famous_

The internet is unarguably a huge advantage for people on the lower end. There
are some people who have been knocked form being successful in the traditional
media to being successful on the internet only, but that internet group
includes them and people who would have never been successful in the
traditional media. I don't even think that's a question. The only reason
someone who would have been successful in traditional media isn't successful
on the Internet is that the increased ease of competition made it clear that
they suck and they pushed them out.

------
snarkyturtle
Except people don't do Comedy Central specials for the money, they do it to
get exposure. Heralding C.K's success is like how people praised Radiohead for
releasing their album independently. He already has a rabid and loyal fan
base, but that's after working the comedy scene, writing for big shows, having
stand-up specials on HBO. This article makes it seem like anybody can generate
their own material, promote it and eventually have their own TV show, but
there's a lot more to it than that.

~~~
SODaniel
I refuse to be described as a 'Rabid' fan. Mangy? Yes. Creepy? Certainly. But
Rabid? No sir, that I am not.

~~~
cmdrreiki
Even fan is already enough of an insult. I refuse to be a fanatic about
anything.

------
rohwer
On the WTF Podcast by Marc Maron, he explains how his terrible buying habits
with an Amex black card, including a new Mercedes, a sojourn at the Ritz, and
a brass instrument, led to his inability to get a credit card for many years.

He basically lost his way after comedy clubs closed in the late 80's and had
to reinvent himself. Youtube his old "I have a peach" routine to understand
his reinvention. Here is a version of it:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmZfVCSzEw0>

------
BeSublime
I was listening to this today to and from lunch, and can't wait to catch the
whole thing later. I wanted to share it with the redditers and imgur LCK fans,
so I'm glad its this high on the HN list because that means they've probably
are all reading/hearing it like I'd hoped. I hope it continues to get spread
and discussed.

Unrelated note: Awesome to hear that he listens to Fresh Air regularly. More
people need to know that NPR and APM aren't just for weirdos and boring old
folks. I'm 27 and love NPR, and although I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it
in high school, I do wish I had discovered it wayyyy earlier in my life.

------
mcantelon
Louis CK is a pretty interesting dude. I was quite surprised when in his
Reddit AMA he revealed he did the video editing on the comedy special. Pretty
awesome.

------
kin
Can't believe someone put it on a Torrent site with that lame excuse. His
experiment is interesting and I think it works but only for acts like him. I'd
like to see stats on the Humble Indy bundles I feel they follow the same model
but at a smaller scale.

~~~
lukifer
Buying the special allows you only two downloads, even if the download doesn't
complete. My first try, the Wi-Fi dropped; luckily, the second worked. While
waiting, I was bemused thinking that I would have a legitimate reason to
torrent if it didn't go through. (Actually, I would have just bought it again,
as an excuse to give the man more money. Like his bit with the veteran on the
plane, I got a hit of feeling good about myself without actually having to
follow through. :P)

~~~
kin
Fair enough, though I wasn't at all upset at the idea of seeding the video
'cause honestly digital distribution should be free, just the note he put with
the seed felt selfish and in the context of the article did not include a
link.

I understand as an alternate to downloading and getting what you paid for
sure, you can seed it. But don't put it up there with a note that says the
video should be free.

------
alf
I like Louis C.K., was made aware of his new video through this posting, and
just bought the video, but I don't think this belongs on HN.

~~~
abrichr
"What to Submit ... anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." [1]

[1] <http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

------
chris_gogreen
What exactly does he mean he's never seen a check, he does TV specials for
free?

~~~
S_A_P
it means that he gets paid a small advance, does the show, and then the
networks collect all the dvd and merch sales and dont give him any
royalties...

------
un1xl0ser
So how do I buy it without Paypal? Oh well. Maybe that can be the next battle.

------
rickdale
this is great because illegal downloading seems like such a victimless crime,
but here we have a specific victim and so the 'crime' all of the sudden has
drastically changed in scope.

------
funkah
I was surprised that he revealed yesterday in the reddit thing that he has
never owned a home or had real financial security. I'm enough of a fan to know
that he is definitely not rich from comedy, but I somehow figured he had made
enough to own a home outright at least.

FTA: "And a friend of mine who does torrent stuff a lot says that when torrent
users do buy something, they act like they're doing the greatest thing ever.
... They're saying, 'I bought something today. I paid for it. And I didn't
steal it. I'm the greatest person alive.'"

I've noticed this attitude as well. It's really, really annoying.

~~~
tptacek
I've seen him live a couple times, and he's gotten up on stage and joked about
how much more money he has than everyone in the entire room. I don't think
he's hurting.

~~~
ramy_d
he's also done the opposite the "I don't even have 'no money'" routine.

~~~
tptacek
When, and what was the bit?

Also: you've seen him live, right? How much did you pay for the tickets? Both
times for me, the face was over $30, and both times the house was packed.

Do the math on how many shows he does. He tours constantly; a new one every
year.

I don't think he's hurting. I think he's "only serious" when he jokes about
having more money than everyone in the whole audience.

~~~
libraryatnight
I saw him on the most recent tour and he mentioned something about flying
first class, and then apologized but assured the audience that he probably
won't be doing that long, he'll mess it up lol

extreme paraphrasing, but I'm sure you all understand.

~~~
StavrosK
It's on the video he's selling now, he says he flies first class because he
has more money than the audience, and that this has been going on for eight
months and will only go on for another year.

------
gospelwut
Wow, everything about HN really is the opposite of Reddit.

~~~
joejohnson
I know. HN is so cool. And people here never point that out, unlike that lame
circle-jerk Reddit.

~~~
_delirium
I assumed it was sarcastic, since posting about Louis CK all the time for the
past 5 years is sort of Reddit's _thing_.

~~~
gospelwut
It wasn't. I'm just used to violent reactions, like "F* CORPORATIONS F* FOR
F*"

~~~
omouse
That isn't violent. It's just a quick shorthand to express an intense dislike
of corporations and capitalism without bothering to write a paragraph about it
:D What's so violent about that?

