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Fu Mangrood!
Topic Started: Mar 13 2010, 05:46 PM (22,182 Views)
Todd 3D
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The Madd Director
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Look, this latest gambit from Grood is simply his way of pretending to not be a pirate when he knows (and the rest of us know) that he's every bit the "dirty pirate" that he rages against (such as Fred Shay, AC Comics, and VCI). Of course, the illegal release of DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST simply cemented that fact, but this latest nonsense just goes further to prove it.
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home"--Edward R. Murrow
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Frank Hale
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Regardless of what I have to consider to be the good Doctor’s “situational ethics” on copyright issues, IMO the real casualty was the destruction of the Serial Squadron message boards. IIRC the original schism with Gravy was over reviewing “non-copyrighted” (ie, non-Grood) serial DVD’s.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.
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Pa Stark
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Frank, it was a lot more to what brought down the Squadron than that. Grood has done a lot of good things in the serial world such as his wonderful restorations on serials that don't exist in complete form, fun serial conventions, etc, but when faced with dissent, he blindly strikes back so viciously, that he drives the other person away for good. It isn't just a couple of people who broke with Grood, it must be at least two dozen fans. Anyone who visits the other serial sites, would be familiar with Ace Drummond, who is one of the most loved people on these boards. Much of the success and fun of the SeriaFest conventions was because of the contributions from Ace. I didn't attend SF 2009, but from most reports, it was a fiasco, and Grood blamed Ace. Afterwards Grood made a post that horrified everyone where he denounced "..Ace Drummond and his f**king daughter." Ace's daughter, Nancy is a very sweet person, and all of us think the world of her, and for Grood to strike out at her like that is pretty sad.

After we left, and during our own convention the next year, he posted, "Even as we speak, an unscrupulous group of boneheads are secretly meeting in a seedy New Jersey hotel."

I also have been the victim of his vitriol. When I received my copy of DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST, I and a couple others noticed the picture froze for a couple of seconds at one point, so I posted that to find out why. Grood's response was, now get this, to claim my hobby is sniffing bicycle seats! I am not kidding. Several years before in the chat room, I made a joke that to watch THE CLUTCHING HAND was like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer, because it feels so good when you stop. Grood got a laugh out of that, but on the same post he claimed I hated serials, and that to watch serials was like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer. Gang, if I hated serials, I wouldn't be part of these boards nor would I have around 6,000 posts, or travel across country to attend serial conventions. Don't bother looking for that post, Grood did delete it a few days later.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Yes, bitterness remains from the Grood Wars. We'd be better off if we ignored his immaturity and focused on his dishonesty: that's the real problem. We make allowances for immaturity all the time, especially if we have kids.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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mort bakaprevski
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Let me preface this by stating I don't know Grood at all. Never met him & have only had minimal dealings with him. So, I'm probably not qualified to speak on the subject at all. However, little things like that have never stopped me in the past, s-o-o-o-o-o....

My take is that, unlike Bialystock & Bloom, Grood never started these projects with the intention of bilking subscribers. I think he was probably as optimistic with these as he was when he began restoration on Fu Manchu. However, like the Fu project, he ran into difficulties he couldn't overcome easily....or at all. Plus, the guy strikes me as having something of a short interest span & quickly tires of a project once it proves difficult. So, since he had already spent the subscribers' money on the project (or on another project entirely), he simply found himself without the wherewithal to make refunds. Consequently, he didn't!!

Is this dishonest? Of course.... but somehow I don't equate it with the sociopath who knows at the get-go subscribers will never see a damn thing for their investment.

I certainly wouldn't invest in a Grood project because I've seen what happens to people who have in the past. However, Gravy & Panzer didn't have that history to inform them when they put up their money. A mistake I probably would have made myself had I been in their position!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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Pa Stark
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You make some good points, Mort, but Grood does come through as promised 90% of the time, but manages to royally screw up the other 10%. On the plus side, there is no one who would have put in even half the work Grood did in his LONE RANGER and DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST restorations, so I can't agree with you that he quickly tires of a project The two projects that pissed me off was his restoration of THE PHANTOM EMPIRE and how he handled THE VOICE FROM THE SKY. None of us wanted the new improved, modernized PE with the added music, purple tinted ray gun blasts, etc, but that is what we got, and VFTS turned out to be just an audio synopsis of the plot. If he told us that is what we were really getting instead of double talking, I wouldn't have felt cheated.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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You're pretty close to the money, mort. What you aren't taking into account is that he told us we were investing in the preservation of The Masked Rider. He hasn't done anything at all to preserve the film, just used it as an excuse to make an amateurish botch of a DVD release which is still incomplete ten years later. You're right that he isn't Bialystock; he's grandiose and childish but not a sociopath. Whether there are degrees of evil is a philosophical question. My take on that is that most bad behavior is caused by fear, one way or another, and God knows Grood has painted himself into any number of dangerous corners -- the best way I know to become and always stay afraid.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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marlin lee
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mort bakaprevski
Jan 19 2012, 04:46 PM
Heejshi foof (as Unca Captain used to say)

It seems every time I post something to get a discussion going, if a discussion does commence, it’s on an entirely different subject.

My original post was NOT an attempt to revive the old “Good is a crook” harangue…. which has been going on far too long to be interesting any more. What I wanted to discuss was his approach to the copyright laws.
Well it is important to warn any newcomers about Grood. He can mostly be trusted to deliver on a product once it has been released and others have seen it and reported on what you are getting. However if you pre-order a title you may never get it and frequently it has been ruined by Grood's tampering.

But to stick to Grood's argument it is trying to say his crap doesn't stink like everyone else's. It is as much or as little copyright violation and outright stealing as anyone else is doing. The only difference is that as far as Grood is concerned if anyone else does it it must be wrong and if he does it it must be right.
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Laughing Gravy
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Actually, Eric is like everybody else I know who lies and steals... he believes that it's okay if HE does it because "EVERYBODY does it." He believes I was being "paid under the table" by VCI to shill their product, so it's okay in his warped mind if he makes up a false quote of me allegedly praising something he'd done to sell HIS product. See how his mind works?
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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mort bakaprevski
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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marlin lee
Jan 22 2012, 11:31 PM
But to stick to Grood's argument it is trying to say his crap doesn't stink like everyone else's. It is as much or as little copyright violation and outright stealing as anyone else is doing.
Hey, if Grood has discovered a LEGAL way to circumvent the copyright system, I'm all for it.

It works to everyone's advantage.... except some large corporation that isn't getting any value out of the product by letting it sit on the shelf!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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Todd 3D
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The Madd Director
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But Mort, this is no more LEGAL than Fred Shay or Trevor saying their discs are sold collector to collector, no rights implied or given. It's another in a long line of smokescreens designed to make him seem like he isn't a pirate, the same as the mysterious 2nd print of DDOTW (which had the same flaws as the BYU print) and the release of "orphan" films.
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home"--Edward R. Murrow
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mort bakaprevski
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But Todd, that's NOT the point.

If Fred Shay & Trevor thought of the same loophole, then good for them. I just wasn't aware of it!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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I'm inclined to go along with you, mort. I don't count releasing films nobody else wants to release among Grood's sins. The fact that he has preached against exactly that for years and years makes him look silly, though. Like some of these Presidential candidates, he seems to think nobody can remember what he did before.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Laughing Gravy
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Well, the grey market exists for that reason, yes?

Seems to me that if, say, Mr. X Video was selling a DVD-R of, oh, Little Shop of Horrors (1960). Public domain title (Mr. Corman was too cheap to take care of the copyright, the dummy). No problem.

Now let's say Mr. X Video is selling Return of the Ape Man. That's not in the Public Domain, although it's a Monogram film and Warners says they don't own it. Who owns it? Who knows? So, unless somebody steps forward, if Mr. X Video sells it so we can all enjoy it, I have no problem with that.

Now, let's say Mr. X Video is selling, oh, The Dead End Kids on Dress Parade for ten bucks, a print he copied off of TCM. Hmmm... Owned by Warners. They don't have it on DVD. I might buy it if I really, really wanna see it. But if Warner Archive puts it out, Mr. X Video has to cease and desist immediately.

Recently, a Balconeer mentioned a slew of short subjects he'd purchased from a vendor. I asked who and where, 'cause I wanted my own copy. I went to the website and discovered - horrors! - the asshole was buying Warner Archive titles, burning new copies, and selling them for $10 a pop. That guy should be put out of business and go to jail. He's stealing.

Okay, now on to Grood. You can't say, "VCI are pirates and crooks and liars for putting out non-public domain titles without the rights to do so. I'm putting out non-public domain titles without the rights to do so, because it's for collectors." Well, he CAN say it, but he looks like exactly what he is.

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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mort bakaprevski
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Laughing Gravy
Jan 24 2012, 04:17 PM
Okay, now on to Grood. You can't say, "VCI are pirates and crooks and liars for putting out non-public domain titles without the rights to do so. I'm putting out non-public domain titles without the rights to do so, because it's for collectors." Well, he CAN say it, but he looks like exactly what he is.

Grood's hypocrisy really isn't the issue either (at least not for me). My interest is whether the statement he uses REALLY circumvents the current copyright laws or not? And what about the portion that limits it to films 75 years or older?? Of course 75 years was the old copyright limit.

Obviously, since it's not court-tested, & probably won't be, there's no definitive answer here. Sheeesh, wish someone around here was a lawyer. Hey waitaminnit, my son's a lawyer, already!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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