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RobotToaster@mander.xyz to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish ·
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1 day ago

TIL the music used in the infamous "you wouldn't download a car" anti-piracy advert was pirated

www.abc.net.au

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TIL the music used in the infamous "you wouldn't download a car" anti-piracy advert was pirated

www.abc.net.au

RobotToaster@mander.xyz to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish ·
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1 day ago
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Anti-pirating ad music stolen › Dr Karl's Great Moments In Science (ABC Science)
www.abc.net.au
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  • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    was it car music?

  • lechekaflan@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    In any case, the ad is so much just like the supposedly anti-drug D.A.R.E. ads which only managed to create the opposite effect.

  • nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    19 hours ago

    I don’t understand this marketing campaign at all. it doesn’t make any sense to me. I can’t imagine a person who would say “no. I would definitely not download a car.” Of course you would bitch that makes no goddamn sense

    this campaign must have had the desired emotional appeal impact on exactly 0 people

    • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      The actual phrase was “you wouldn’t steal a car”. The idea was to equate piracy and theft. It wasn’t really taken seriously even then.

      Also, piracyisacrime.com

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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        5 hours ago

        Like the old “this is your brain on drugs” ad, with eggs frying in the pan. WTF you talkin’ bout? Now I got the munchies, and I’m too stoned to cook. Just pop Hot Pocket in the microwave.

  • The Real King Gordon@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    So was the font.

    https://hackaday.com/2025/04/25/you-wouldnt-steal-a-font/

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      1 day ago

      I would be very cautious about that.

      US font IP law has some unusual quirks.

      Historically, the US took the position that typefaces could not be copyrighted.

      Later on, case law established that digital font files — maybe only vector ones, not sure, but it did apply to vector font files — could be copyrighted.

      What this resulted in was a common practice in the US that I recall in the 1990s or so having people print out vector fonts (which put them in a non-copyrighted form), then scan them back in, vectorize them, and make a usable font. The font wasn’t great, only approximated the letterforms of the original, and I doubt that they recreated kerning correctly, but it worked more-or-less. Then they’d sell sell bulk collections of these recreated fonts.

      The fonts were knockoffs, but that doesn’t mean that they were infringing under US copyright law.

      That may be what was going on with that font.

      The comp.fonts FAQ has an extended discussion on the topic (and based on that, raster font files also are indeed not copyrightable, just vector).

      http://www.faqs.org/faqs/fonts-faq/part2/

      • neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 hours ago

        I think the creator of the was interviewed at some point and they acknowledged that the font was a knockoff of the font he made. If I am misremembering, please correct me.

  • Mark with a Z@suppo.fi
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    1 day ago

    People keep repeating this, but it’s not true.

    https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/

    • RobotToaster@mander.xyzOP
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      24 hours ago

      So, there was an anti piracy advert, and it had pirated music, but it was a different one?

      TIL

      • Cort@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        Iirc it was the font for the text that was used without permission

  • shittydwarf@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    And the font too

  • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    And it made people more likely to pirate media.

    • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      This ad was how I learned digital piracy existed

      • ripcord@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        The ad was what inspired me to download a car

    • rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social
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      1 day ago

      Streisand effect at it again

    • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
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      22 hours ago

      And it made people more likely to steal cars.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    This is a great piece of trivia

    Edit: what’s the problem? It IS. I’m not being rude or sarcastic. I appreciate this weird piece of information.

    • DarkSirrush@piefed.ca
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      19 hours ago

      Some people are incredibly against comments that don’t directly provoke continued conversation on the subject, because ‘I like this’ is conveyed with an upvote.

      That, or you have a stalker due to a different comment/post/etc.

    • 😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      It’s not true.

  • 😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    No.

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