<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I sent this last night from the wrong email address. As a result I don't think it posted - sorry if you end up getting it twice.<div> ~ Porter.</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> </div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>So I wanted to post a question and discussion-starter to the Groop.</div><div><br></div><div>I started this letter over a month ago but it kept on shifting focus to the point I decided to shelve it for another day. It is still far from the most coherent letter/op-ed I've ever written, but at least now it makes a little more sense. And now, since Mark's report from the CalgCon regarding Sergio's distaste for most webcomics, perhaps this is a good time to send it out anyway since it is at least somewhat related.</div><div><br></div><div>In writing this, I had originally intended to simply ask fairly straight forward questions about the ethics, legality and opinions regarding the sharing of eComics through torrent and peer-to-peer sites. Unfortunately I stumbled into a thought process I was not prepared for - the future of comic books in general. Ouch. So with apologies, a messy, two-fold commentary and exposition is what follows.</div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I've noticed a number of file-sharing sites with electronic comics available (.pdf's, .cbz's, .cbr's, etc.) and am trying to wrap my head around the ethics of trading/sharing such things. These are, so far as I can tell, mostly user-made - someone scanned the pages then compiled them all into a single file to read on their computer. It's a great idea in many respects and I'm sure it's been around for a long time. But sharing them - putting them up on torrent sites and peer-to-peer networks, etc... we may own the individual books, but the content is nevertheless still someone else's intellectual property. In this case, our pals Sergio, Mark, et al.</div><div><br></div><div>There may also be officially-released e-comics too, but that's frankly out of my scope of knowledge. If there are, and there's some kind of subscription/payment deal, well then it's pretty obvious we're talking straight up piracy if those are shared ("What pirates?").</div><div><br></div><div>Awhile back, I downloaded a file which I think has pretty much all Groo issues prior to, oh, I don't know - maybe 2006. And going through this database is fantastic - not as much as reading the book, mind you but still I do love having immediate access to Groo on my laptop. Depending on the format and one's inclination, a hidden layer could even be added to contain notes and all the text of the stories, letters, etc., making the books completely searchable - ever wonder exactly how many times someone called Groo a specific insult <font class="Apple-style-span" size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; ">(mendicant)</span></font>? Seriously, having the entire catalogue right at your fingertips is very cool.</div><div><br></div><div>Nevertheless, both the ethical and legal aspects of this have come up on occasion to frustrate my inner dialogue: "Is it okay for me to download these files even if I already own the physical book?", "If the book just is not available anymore but I've tried really, really hard, then is it okay?", "If someone asks me really nicely, then is it okay to give them a copy of the file?", "Is this potentially robbing from those I admire, respect and want to support?"</div><div><br></div><div><div>These questions, though interesting to me philosophically, have ultimately given rise to others which are perhaps more important. Not being involved in the comic industry or more than marginally aware of other titles beyond Groo though, I have no sense if this is a well-addressed issue or not. </div><div><br></div><div>I think of comics as as a content <b>and</b> collector industry. Not owning a copy (or usually four or five copies) is unacceptable to me, as I imagine it is for all Groopers. But is that true for the business in general? Obviously it is for a vast number of comic fans as any comic convention is testament to, but does it remain so for the newer generations of comic readers, those who were raised on computers by computer-savvy parents in a computer-savvy world where (and I say this with equal parts scorn and admiration) it seems possession and appreciation of content trumps possession and appreciation of a physical medium.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Ten years ago I thought this materialism-based philosophy was true for the music and video industries as well, and it has become quite apparent that this is no longer the case. Owning the physical record/cd/video/dvd has actually become <b>im</b><b>material</b> and both industries are in trouble as a result (well, partially as a result). DVD sales are still doing pretty well right now, but if CD sales are an indication, then perhaps not for much longer. Both are available to buy electronically through iTunes or Amazon, etc., but they are all readily available through pirating sites as well. As a producer-type here in Los Angeles, I can't but notice the affects this has had on the industry. I don't want to speak for ME, but I imagine as a bigtime producer and writer he has felt this shift directly and personally, probably far moreso than myself in terms of residuals from DVD sales, etc.</div><div><br></div><div>But what about comics? A lot of questions come up for me about the current and future state of the comics business in general. Do online/electronic comics already cut into sales of the physical comics themselves or are they primarily just ways of introducing new titles to a larger audience and providing bonus content to fans? As happened with music, does a similar shift to a high-quality digital paradigm loom ever-present or is it generally scoffed at by publishers? With ever-rising printing costs, if the comic industry has not yet fully embraced this notion, in the years to come can it continue to afford not to? </div><div><br></div><div>Tempting for publishers though it may become, I'm fairly confident that doing so would be the death-knell for the comic-book medium and perhaps for the industry as a whole. Copying the pages of your comic books, whether by photocopy or even homemade digital scans, regardless of quality, will always be a poor substitute for the real thing (famous last words?). I am sure that the vast majority of comic readers feel similarly - they simply could not compete against the quality of the real thing and only publishers have access to the original source for making high-quality digital releases.</div><div><br></div><div>And yet, to quote <a href="http://www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/?utm_source=comics&utm_medium=Btn-blwbanner&utm_content=digital_comics&utm_campaign=MDC_TNav">marvel.com</a>, "Digital comics are <b>online versions</b> of your favorite Marvel Comics <b>created from the original files</b> used to print them" (their emphasis). Were publishers to eventually sell officially-released electronic versions as a <b>primary source</b>, I have no doubt that it would be a matter of moments before we started seeing titles and publishers closing up shop left and right - it removes the "collector" aspect of buying comic books. Quite simply, pirating and illegally distributing a digital medium is easy, the theory of copy protection is faulty as these measures can and will always be hackable, and once the flood gates are opened, there is absolutely no stopping the flow.</div><div><br></div><div>Speaking of flow, here is my long-term doomsday scenario for such an event (oh how I do love an armageddon story):</div><div>Rising costs in printing leads to an increase in officially-sanctioned electronic production. Greater publicity of the electronic medium, along with younger generations growing up with with it, leads to general acceptance and public demand. This demand forces publishers to look at this as a massive potential revenue source for their cash-strapped account books. The digital format is so much cheaper to produce and buy that it becomes the primary source of distribution and consumption, rendering the physical medium an obsolete niche market. Illegal file-sharing and copy-protection hacks bankrupt publishers, writers and artists. All we are left with are stories from the past and the few individual authors who either have nothing to begin with or are willing to operate at a loss.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Or is the comic book industry doing quite well as it is, thank you, and this is jut a bunch of foolish speculation?</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>So where does this leave us now? On the one hand we have the nice (but legally and ethically questionable) idea of sharing buyer-made digital copies of Groo The Wanderer with fellow fans, and on the other we have the threat of the total annihilation of the very medium we all love.</div><div><br></div><div>This is of course just academic and probably a bit of a stretch; a major part of the allure of comics <b>is</b> the collectibility. And they are afterall a visual medium and unlike music we have seen some resilience from the video market. As parity grows between the popularity of file-sharing and the increased size and affordability of computer hard-drives, I wonder how long that will last though - particularly in an economically-stressed time, can collectibility compete with free?</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>"But this is art!" So saith VanGough's self-portrait as he appeared on my living room wall-mounted large-format electronic picture frame in all his high-definition glory.</div><div><br></div><div>Fond regards to all,</div><div> ~ Porter.</div></div></div></div><br></div></body></html>