29/06/2015

mess of a post/rant

The more I learn about the music industry and the copyright systems that are in place, the more I have issues with people demanding the right to access unlimited content freely. This is a huge issue in the fandom I'm apart of which is why I want to write this just to map out some of the main arguments, examine the consequences and maybe introduce a different perspective to whoever is reading this. In our fandom there has lately been much attention given to accounts dedicated to spreading fancafe exclusive content outside of the fancafe, objecting to the rules and the fans that argue that the rules should be followed.

The people who spread this content can often be seen arguing some of these points:
1. Most people don't have access to the fancafe, we are helping them.
2. We're not breaking any laws.
3. We don't care about the rules.
4. They're only pictures.

People who object to the spread of this content can be seen arguing some of these points:
1. Gaining access to the fancafe can be tricky, but is absolutely possible, and access to exclusive content is your reward for the struggle. By spreading the pictures you are devaluing our struggle.
2. You're breaking laws.
3. The rules should be followed.
4. They are property of BigHit Entertainment.

I first want to make it clear that spreading and using someone's work without the rightholder's permission is absolutely breaking copyright law. (Swedish law, at least. I don't know about American or Korean law, but as this is a basic staple of copyright I am writing this under the assumption that it is included.) BigHit, the owner of these pictures, have every right to demand that their pictures are used only on their conditions. BigHit also make it very clear that moving these pictures off of the boards is not allowed. 1+1=2, and moving the pictures off the boards is copyright infringement.

What does that mean in practicality, though? You've uploaded a picture to Twitter without their permission, and now you're a criminal. But what does that mean in a community that thrives on copyright infringement like piracy of TV shows and music, scans of printed magazines and sales of items with copyrighted logos and images? Not much at all. BigHit Entertainment will not so much as send you a cease and desist. For some reason they do not pursue copyright infringement even when it's reported to them (due to lack of resources, maybe?). What they might do is make it more difficult to gain access to the fancafe, or post less content, which directly affects all of the members of the fancafe as well as the people who are trying to join to legitimately take part of the content.

Making it more difficult to get access to this content that is being spread may seem counterintuitive. Why not make it easier to join, so that there's no incentive for spreading the pictures in the first place? Because BigHit values the fancafe community. The fancafe is an essential connection between BTS and fans, and not to mention it's the main place where communication between BigHit and the fans happens. It's where you'll find important, detailed and gathered information on new releases, concerts, fansigns and etc. If you are unable to attend their promotions or fansigns in person, the fancafe is your next best bet of experiencing a slightly more close connection with the BTS members; you get to read their fancafe letters, they might comment on your post, or you might be one of the extremely lucky few that get to join a chat room with them. Naturally, many overseas fans fight to overcome the language barrier to join the community. This is definitely not always an easy feat, and can be very time-consuming, which is why some might be offended if the content is simply fed to someone who never even tried. Of course, fancafes also play a big role in Korean fandom culture, which I'm not apart of and so I won't speculate.

Now imagine if BigHit made it easy to join the fancafe, say by simply writing down your name, DOB, location and the answer to a simple question (this is the standard level-up form in many new fancafes that are looking to attract members), or by offering an English level-up form. What would the consequences be? Give this a minute of thought.


I personally believe that it would lead to chaos due to a huge influx of members. The fancafe staff would struggle with enforcing the board rules and the Korean-speaking part of the community would be fed up with the non-Korean speaking part due to the refusal of following the fancafe etiquette and flooding of the Korean boards. With a huge influx of members also comes more members who will pay the rules no mind, and instead of this measure limiting the spread of the exclusive content, it will instead be spread even more. BTS are a group whose popularity is seriously shooting upwards and I believe this is only inevitable. (Of course, it is not impossible to manage an internet community of huge numbers and keep it from turning into chaos, but it does demand a lot of manpower and resources.) Anyway you might reach a different conclusion and disagree with me, this is just what I think.

So why won't BigHit simply scrap the exclusive content and make it available for everyone through open mediums like Facebook and Twitter? Probably because they still need powerful enough incentives for people to join the fancafe. Of course, exclusive pictures are only one part of what makes joining the fancafe valuable, but it's still a part, and invalidating that part would still probably impact the amount of members that decide to join in one way or the other. And why does people joining the cafe or not even matter? It does, because it makes it easier for BigHit to communicate with a larger number of fans, and fancafe membership count is a measurement of domestic popularity.

I'm sure there are several other points I should be touching on in this post that are important, and there is probably much to discuss that I missed, but this is what I could think of to put down and all I have energy for. Whether you agree or disagree with people who spread exclusive content (or other pirated content) is up to you, but I hope you reach your conclusion by weighing several different aspects and perspectives of this and not simply mindlessly agreeing to it because it makes life easy.

28/06/2015

let me whine

when i first got my macbook i settled on using safari. i got used to it and took to really liking it. then i switched back to google chrome, and i can not remember why. some of the plugins i use work a lot better in chrome, but that's not enough reason. so when i finish watching this youtube video i'm going back to safari. life is too short to use ugly browsers.

24/06/2015

I might have written it before, but if I have I'll just write it again because it keeps bothering me. I really wish I paid up for a public transportation card this summer. Home is comfortable, but studying at school is so much easier. The entire concept of going somewhere to study at that specific place is really helpful. It helps me focus. Instead I'm here trying to write a 300 word assignment that shouldn't be very difficult at all.

Anyway I have a 40 song download pass on MelOn and I don't know what to download. :/ Typical.

19/06/2015

struggles and rushmore

We have this assignment this week where we have to try to imagine what the music industry would be like if copyright didn't exist and my mind is literally in circles and I can't for the life of me settle on anything solid. We also need to speculate on what the music industry will look like in the future, and I'm basically ?_? apart from the obvious aspects like digital distribution and streaming models. I don't know if I'm struggling because I know little of the music industry or because I have a really bad imagination. Probably bits of both. Doesn't help that it's almost midnight. Early morning tomorrow. Studying all weekend.

Anyhow today I finished watching Rushmore. It took me about four days. I started watching it as breakfast entertainment, basically. I've seen it once before, but I paid no attention that time and could barely remember anything, so. I always love Wes Anderson. Max is such a bizarre character, occasionally misguided but (almost) always driven and inspiring. I'm not sure I like the story as much as I like the characters, particularly the principal and the teacher whose names I can't remember at the moment. Glad I watched it again, it was very entertaining.

moving on

i'm sort of done with fandom. at least the part that involves being constantly up to date and watching all of the things, i guess the active parts? and the fandom politics. but i don't know how to move on from it because i'm in no way ready to walk away from twitter. instead i'm considering remaking my account and only following my favourite fansites and accounts. it's not that i'm not interested in bangtan anymore, i just want to spend more time and energy on other things. i felt very balanced with my life for quite a long time after i settled into the fandom, but lately i'm losing that balance. and now it's going to be a bit tricky to find where that new balance is. that's okay.

18/06/2015

Frequencies, When We're Young, About Sophie

So I've decided to write something about every movie/TV show I watch, because I just want to. Maybe if I write something about it I'll get more from it, instead of just wasting my time. The only rule is 3 sentences. I might write about my favourite songs as well because why not.

Frequencies.
So Frequencies is special. The characters are named by famous scientists and other known personalities and the story has this fictional scientific system of frequencies and I don't even know. I really enjoyed the cinematography and the soundtrack, and the main actors were awesome. The story was captivating from the start and never lost me. So I liked it a lot.

When We're Young
Too much Ben Stiller. For some unknown reason I don't like him and tend to avoid movies that he's in. Amanda Seyfried and Adam from Girls were in this though, so I was curious about it. The story is about this couple in their 40s who become friends with a couple in their 20s and it's all about growing old? I suppose. I don't think I got that much out of it. I didn't like the characters and the story wasn't too interesting to me. A bit disappointing.

About Sophie
About Sophie is a song by Keaton Henson that I absolutely adore. Keaton has this way of speaking about relationships between people that makes me a bit jealous? I guess. I can identify with both Sophie and Keaton in this song and I just sort of wish I had a relationship like that. It's a song that makes me sad but also lets me appreciate the whole concept of friendship. It's a really pretty song.

17/06/2015

tired

아무 말도 아무 일도 아무 예감도 없이
아무렇지 않게 하룬 가고
아무 말도 아무 일도 아무 예감도 없이
아무렇지 않게 나도



11/06/2015

bum

my blog layout is in some state of limbo and i keep thinking it's sunday
i'm sort of in a state of limbo too
all i've been doing is sitting around waiting for saturday to come
mom will be away for two weeks
and i really like this backlit keyboard
the keys are nice too
and i spend too much time doing nothing when i should be getting started on this course lit

honey fm 2nd anni edition came out today and i laughed a lot a lot a lot and it made me happy ! i don't know what to expect when the clock strikes midnight kst tomorrow ... with muster 2 delayed/cancelled and everything. i'm sure the kids have something cooked up to make it up to us.


preciousest kids
i am so happy i ended up in this fandom
and today i listened through bangtan's entire discography because it's been too long and it's really really great and i have so many memories with them annnddd music is great and awesome and stanning the right people is very satisfying

09/06/2015

aesthetics

part of me regrets signing up for a summer course. i'd rather spend the entire summer translating things and learning more korean. then again the extra credit is nice, since it means a small part of my student loan gets written off.
the heat has arrived. which means my appetite is leaving. which is nice. i also got sucked into 1q84, and i have this idea of just sitting around for an entire day reading and listening to hyukoh, but i never get to it.

and today was really tiring. sometimes i get really tired of bighit, and fandom. most of all, alarmists make me tired. alarmists and religious people who want to shove their beliefs on others to the point where those others' rights are denied. i'm also tired of people who care more about labels than actual arguments. it's easy to bash an entire movement without looking at their actual arguments and opinions. it's also lazy. so basically, i'm tired. and i really just want to curl up into 1q84 for hours and hours. so that's what i'm doing tonight. never mind the course lit sitting next to me. tomorrow.