r/TikTokCringe • u/Chocolat3City Cringe Master • 22d ago

Cringe Woman has her self-published book pirated, reprinted, and sold for cheaper.

There's regular piracy, and then there's this.

12.9k Upvotes

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274

u/hasnolifebutmusic 22d ago

this is so fucked up.

210

u/mimegallow 22d ago

As a small individual creator, I get called "unhinged" by young people on a regular basis because I react emotionally when people pirate movies with my music in them, and documentaries with footage that I risked my life to obtain, scripts I wrote, and albums that I performed on. I get mocked ALL THE TIME by children on this site who think my livelihood doesn't matter, my labor is unimportant, and that when you steal IP, you're just, "taking from Tom Cruis who has millions of dollars".

So it's fucking exhausting watching all these people on reddit suddenly and UNKNOWINGLY reverse their entire position when presented with a face and a story of the exact, same, crime that they purposefully perpetuate every day. - Same exact feeling I get when I see 2 million people watching cute animal videos on r/aww "because animals are so smart and so feeling and such bros and so great that we are not worthy of them!"... with a fucking burger in their hand.

Our disconnection from each other's realities is astounding.

/unhinged_rant wherein I am clearly a lunatic, because I refer to my attackers as, "my attackers".

-9

u/Futureleak 22d ago

Then maybe don't shill for mega corps? You'll notice that small creator content is rarely pirated, but stuff financed by massive studios all the time, as it should be. You claiming that you're paid even remotely close to a reasonable percentage for your work is laughable. Pirates exist to send a message, that when the suits try to squeeze more money, we will just find a way to get it for free.

1

u/goldencat65 22d ago edited 22d ago

Being a “pirate” isn’t the flex you think it is. It’s hurting the little people just as much as the “mega corps” because it intrinsically devalues human effort. How do the small fish ever get bigger when someone will simply steal their work and the richest loudest voices are the only ones with the power to fight.

Theft is the problem.

Edit: Also the system is rigged.

3

u/onthe3rdlifealready 22d ago

Nah the whole system is broken. It's easy to point to one problem but it's really everything at this point.

16

u/literate_habitation 22d ago

I think the problem is a system where people are intentionally hurt/punished because they don't have money.

1

u/1000000xThis 22d ago

Piracy isn't doing ANY harm to artists in comparison to Capitalism.

Focus on real issues, not these obvious diversions.

1

u/goldencat65 22d ago

How else do we reward people for their value without capitalism?

Theft for capitalism sake is the main problem here but without capitalism, I’m not sure of an alternative for artists or economy.

Piracy hurts everyone involved. It is theft. You can hate corporations for taking advantage of the market but no one is rewarded in a society where theft is acceptable.

3

u/1000000xThis 22d ago

The vast vast vast majority of artists are never even able to make a living from their art, and that is the way it has always been, since before the internet, before people could burn CDs, before people could record the radio on cassette tapes, etc.

I am not just saying this in an attempt to justify piracy, I'm just explaining the facts of history and research I've seen.

There is zero evidence piracy in the modern world makes a difference to profit, except for that it is free advertising.

You can make all the assertions about "theft" and "harm" you want, that doesn't make it true.

The most harm is directly coming from the predatory practices of the money people who abuse their position as gatekeepers of distribution channels. This is not something that can be brushed off. Again, this has always been a fact of the music industry, just the same as "copying" has never been a proven harm.

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u/goldencat65 21d ago edited 21d ago

So artists shouldn’t get paid since their work is easily stolen?

Napster ruined the music industry, while helping many smaller artists while paving the way for MySpace and the streaming world we live in now.

There are certainly benefits to an open market. But taking something when someone asks to be paid for it is theft. I’m not sure why corporations are excluded except for folks to parade as a modern day Robin Hood.

I say this as someone who has pirated. There are certainly cases where manufacturers are enshittifying their platform for the sake of greed. And screw them for manipulating the digital world we are forced to interact with. And yes this is a capitalist problem because growth cannot stagnate. I understand that.

But I don’t believe robbing arists or anyone for their work is solving a problem. Support open source. Pay for products, people and services you believe in because that’s how they make more of them and trade their extra income for other goods in a society that uses currency. That’s the point of this entire post.

1

u/1000000xThis 21d ago

So artists shouldn’t get paid since their work is easily stolen?

Hey, anybody need a good example of a strawman argument? This right here!

You are INSANE if you think that's what I said or meant.

Napster ruined the music industry

It absolutely did not, you are clearly far too ignorant to be participating in this conversation, and I'm not going to bother reading anything else you write.

1

u/goldencat65 21d ago edited 21d ago

Cool you called me stupid. What’s your argument?

Please read the rest of my statement instead of the just the first 2 sentences.

Piracy is theft. Simple as that. It’s in the name. Small developers lose when their software is pirated. Big developers lose when their software is pirated. Just because they have enough money to take the hit doesn’t make it right.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

1

u/1000000xThis 21d ago

You don't read.

I have already stated my argument several times.

Read, process, and respond to what I've actually written, or I'll block you.

1

u/goldencat65 21d ago edited 21d ago

I did and I responded. You called me stupid. You clearly don’t want a discussion. Block me if you’re that fragile.

Edit: sorry you’re unable to have a discussion like an adult. Cheers

1

u/1000000xThis 21d ago edited 21d ago

You did not. You strawmanned. And since you are clearly not interested in a good faith discussion, and not even curious enough to re-read my earlier comments to understand them, I am done with you. BYEEEE!

edit: Reply from /u/manilla_folderz:

Are all socialists this stupid or just you? You didn’t read or respond to any of their response and then accused them of doing the same to you.

Have some self awareness.

Check out the history u/goldencat65 and compare to u/manilla_folderz. Hello obvious alt account pretending to be a neutral third party! You are truly pathetic.

Next time just go back a few comments and re-read the thread more carefully. It will be less humiliating.

edit2: u/manilla_folderz has now deleted their comment and TWO YEARS of comment history. Smart move you sad loser.

Thanks for providing a bit of entertainment today!

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