LIVESTREAM UPDATE:

Heya!  So I realized that Thanksgiving is this week, which kind of throws a wrench into the normal Friday livestream stuff.  In light of that, there won’t be a stream this week (sorry!), but the streams will resume next week!

END LIVESTREAM UPDATE!

In regards to today’s strip, I feel as though companies that block their own content on Youtube (amongst other places) are doing themselves a disservice.  While technically their intellectual property is being used without permission, they seem to be unaware of the fact that the illegal use boils down to extra exposure for themselves.

Those Youtube videos might attract new fans to products, or help create a deeper, more devoted fanbase willing to purchase official products/cds/dvds/whatever.  Examples are out there: Star Wars, MLP, Dragonball, etc.

Any show, band, or what-have-you stands only to benefit from fan-made or fan-uploaded content; a situation akin to the expression “any PR is good PR.”

Then again, I don’t necessarily believe that any PR is good PR.

What kind of PR is bad PR?  The kind of PR you get when a company pulls Youtube videos based off of copyright claims.  It’s a slap in the face to the fans that uploaded the content, and might make them disloyal.  Additionally, doing so keeps new people from being introduced to the show/music/whatever, limiting the potential fanbase.

In my most recent Youtube copyright claim experience, I don’t even remember what I was trying to watch.  What I do remember is the company that blocked it, and consider the act to be incredibly petty, which makes me less likely to consume their content.

In the case of, say, my own content, I stand by this concept.  Would I like everyone who posts my strip somewhere on the internet to link back here?  Absolutely!  That said, I’d never try to take legal action against anyone who chose not to do so; it would serve no purpose.

Then again, I seriously doubt that any media giant cares what I think.  Boooooooooo.

Then again again, I’m a small fry who might not know what I’m talking about.

One or the other.

Quick train story:  I was waiting for the train late Thursday night/Friday morning and once it arrived, I quickly hopped inside.  I wish I hadn’t; the train smelled like poop.

I am not using the word “poop” here as an over-exaggeration or as adjective; the train actually smelled like feces.  There was a… very scruffy looking man with a beard that hadn’t seen a trimmer in a decade sitting in the corner who had apparently crapped his pants.  He seemed really proud and occasionally sang.  At this point, the doors had already closed and the train was moving, so I sucked it up and took a seat.  My stop was coming up shortly, so I didn’t see much of a reason to change cars.

What I did do, however, was watch new passengers as they came on the train with morbid curiosity.

The faces they made upon first smelling the odor… priceless…. totally worth having to deal with the stench myself.