Michael Moore vs. Geographical Rights

About two weeks ago we reported the release of Michael Moore’s 'Slacker Uprising' on torrents. When the filmmaker himself says "share it or show it in any way you see fit," one may think (as I did) that finally there’s an illegal sharing-free matter this time. That is not the case, however. After the documentary started to appear on torrent sites, a lot of people got, much to their surprise, letters of cease-and-desist, and now we have a real geographical sharing debate.

This was actually possible because Moore only owns the North American rights to the movie which makes anyone from across the pond downloading it liable for copyright infringement. Moore’s response was prompt: "What are 'geographical rights'? I'll say it for the hundredth time: If I buy a book and read it, and then give you the book to read, I have broken no laws. Why is that not true for all media?"

I for one agree with Michael – I mean, first of all, he actually made the film, it’s absurd that he can't distribute it anyway he wants to! Ok, I admit I may have shallow knowledge about this industry but still…