Can I just say how great it is to have feature length O'Neal articles again. I sure hope the new Univision overlords understand what a treasure they have.

Especially since he raises those exact concerns in the 2005 interview where he says he would never sell Star Wars. He knew what this was but I guess the knowledge and the reality were two different things.

I was so pissed when I got my special order picture pages kit in the mail and the pen did not make any sounds.

No need to get bent out of shape. Your entire argument seems to be: STEALING! and misrepresenting my position.
I do think artists deserve to get paid, I don't think relying on a fundamentally flawed business model is the best way to do that.
I do know that piracy is illegal, but I also know that copyright law is…

Let's take a step back for a moment and maybe I can better explain why I oppose the word stealing and I am fine with the word pirating.

How is that any different than taking a picture of a painting in a museum? Again I am not making a moral argument that it is right, just that it is a flawed business model.

But the fact is I did not take anything, the original is still there. It is no different than taking a high quality photograph of another photograph in a museum.

But it is an argument that it is a flawed business model. There are plenty of other revenue streams like touring, merchandise and licensing. I am just saying that musicians should focus more on those and less on a losing battle.

And again you make a moral argument. Even if I agreed with that, it does not change the basic facts about how computers and digital files work.

I work in a library, there was no deal made, just basic first sale doctrine. Of course the publishers want to do away with that right with digital items.

I don't download any music, or even buy it anymore for that matter. Pandora is fine for my needs.

So is borrowing a book from a friend or library stealing too? What about buying something used?

First, I cannot disagree more about the apple analogy. The apple in the cart is still there, I just made an identical copy of it using my own resources. Just because the apple vendor would rather I pay for his apple than make a copy does not mean I stole his apple. What if I digitally scanned the Eiffel Tower and…

It is just outsourcing the format-shifting work. If format shifting is fair use, why can't I pay someone else to do that for me?

But of course the RIAA would disagree with your right to do #1 or #2. They have been chipping away at fair use rights for years. But it is likely we agree on their draconian methods.

You say you are not judging, but calling it stealing is a judgement. It ignores fair use and first sale exceptions that have stood for years to protect our rights in regard to physical items under copyright protection.

Hmm, like all the shitty music from the 1800's…

But that ignores the very real differences between digital content and physical copies. The record labels have spent years and millions of dollars trying to make the case that they are the same thing. It is not any different than oil companies funding climate change denial. Not matter how you tailor the propaganda,…

Dad is essentially format shifting and that is pretty clearly not stealing. It is not completely settled law but based on the 1984 Betamax decision and the 1999 Rio MP3 player decision it would be considered fair use.

Yeah, that is the publisher argument, but it kind of breaks down when you realize that is what libraries have been doing with print books for a over a century now. I don't mind that they make us buy individual copies that can only be checked out one at a time, but it gets a little crazy when some publishers jack up…