And yet more werid piracy tales…

By John Freeman on 5 December 2007

— this time from the Netherlands, where of all things, the latest issue Donald Duck magazine features Donald and his nephews as music pirates and (who else) Uncle Scrooge as the big boss of a record label threatening mis users with fines, prompting Torrent Spy to wonder if an anti-piracy lobby had infiltrated the Donald Duck magazine.

In the issue, Huey, Dewey and Lewey have just downloaded a new album for personal use (saying they will buy the CD when they have the money), and are shocked when Donald tries to sell pirate CDs of the download, and tell him it’s not fair because the CD is copyrighted. “If nobody buys CDs anymore, the record labels and artists will become beggars,” they tell him.

Strange that Disney should appear to be supporting personal use downloading… but such titles are licensed and will have gone through a rigorous aprovals process.

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.