Bootlegging The Bootleggers

Photo © Max Southall - Cerebus TV

RAY CORNWALL:
(from the comments to Weekly Update #15, 24 January 2014)

...Cerebus has been bootlegged digitally for a very long time. According to the Pirate Bay tracker, there's at least 25 people either downloading or sharing the entire run right now, as we speak (14 seeds, 11 downloaders).

I own a copy of these scans. I also own every issue of Cerebus (either originals or Bi-Weekly reprints) and every phone book, and I participated in the Kickstarter, and I bought the Cerebus digital phone book. And I bought every issue of Glamourpuss. And I'll buy Strange Death, too. So while I own the scans, I at least know I paid up when the opportunity was available.

You don't get a dime on those scans. While you didn't do the scanning, you and Gerhard did the hard part- writing, drawing, lettering, etc. Why not get paid for it?

I've read all the scans- when I did my recent Cerebus re-read, rather than pulling everything out, I loaded everything onto my iPad for convenience. The scans are REALLY good. And the letters page, backmatter, and covers are all there. They're not perfect, and not as good as your hi-res scans, but they're certainly high enough quality for a top-of-the-line iPad. Can't you sell them, through Cerebus Downloads, or maybe even Comixology? Heck, you could add a page of notes, not as much as you put into High Society, but a page or so nonetheless, put out a few issues a week, and get some revenue out of your work. And whatever print product that's available would still be available, and a revenue stream to pay for the continual restoration of the overall Cerebus work would be there.

I might be nuts- this might be a bad idea. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I work for Comixology or Diamond or whatever. But at worst, I wanted to pitch the idea to you. I'd be happy to send you a USB drive of the scans if you don't have them...

DAVE SIM:
(from Weekly Update #16, 31 January 2014)

...Basically, I have NO problem with "bootlegging the bootleggers" -- ripping their ripped files on all 16 trades and posting them to CerebusDownloads.com. I just don't know how to do it myself and I don't know if George has time to do it right now or in the foreseeable future. What I usually do with George is to change the password on the Paypal account at CerebusDownloads.com temporarily and let him add files and Paypal buttons. He lets me know when he's done and I change the password again so I'm the only one who has it. All I have to do is intentionally forget all the other passwords and remember the new one!

If someone wants to volunteer to do it in their spare time, you could contact George at tbdeinc [at] gmail [dot] com and ask him about if that's okay. I'm a complete Luddite so I never know when I'm suggesting something that will turn technically adept children grey-headed. Or George might want to do it himself, I really don't like to arbitrate these things because I know absolutely nothing about it...

GEORGE PETER GATSIS:

(by email, 4 February 2014)
Tim, can you put up a notice on AMOC for anyone to contact me with any bootleg scans of Cerebus Comics... We'll flood the internet with unofficial official copies of Cerebus for everyone!

UPDATE:

I have received a full collection and will be packaging it up within the next 2 weeks and make it available on CerebusDownloads.com. Either it's free or for sale and at what price point... that is up to Dave Sim.

So Dave, what price point -- IF ANY -- should the product(s) be?

George Peter Gatsis
The Black Diamond Effect Inc.
2200 Gerrard Street East,
Toronto, Ontario, M4E 2C7
T: 416-440-4031
F: 206-309-0055
E: tbdeinc [at] gmail [dot] com
www.tbdeinc.com