SIIA’s new music video “Don’t Copy That 2,” the sequel to its 1992 classic “Don’t Copy That Floppy,” has had a dramatic, worldwide impact on anti-piracy awareness.  Since its September 9th release, SIIA’s “Don’t Copy That 2” music video has been viewed more than 255,000 times on YouTube, where more than a thousand people have posted comments about the video and its message, “It’s not just a copy. It’s a crime.”  The video has also been a favorite of bloggers and Twitter users around the world, who have made it the subject of hundreds of tweets and postings over the last two weeks.

People either love it or hate it, but either way Don’t Copy that 2 is having a powerful impact.  And that is exactly our goal – to deliver our anti-piracy message to audiences around the world. The criminal consequences of piracy are significant, but we can’t expect to deliver that message simply through reports, press releases and run-of-the-mill educational materials.  Don’t Copy that 2 is reaching young and engaged audiences that need to understand that pirating copyrighted works is a serious crime.”

People have called it ‘hysterical,’ ‘genius,’ ‘contemporary drama at its finest,’ and my favorite – ‘the worst anti-piracy ad ever.’  Whatever you want to say about it, one thing is clear:  ‘Don’t Copy That 2’ has gained the attention of both those who obey – and those who violate – copyright laws.  The video is fun to watch, and perhaps even more fun to critique, but it has unquestionably been a successful means for delivering a serious message.

Today, SIIA launched its new anti-piracy video - “Don’t Copy That 2”. The video is a sequel to the 1992 “Don’t Copy That Floppy”video, which was a huge success in schools throughout the country and eventually became a cult phenomenon on YouTube. You can view the video on the Don’t Copy That Website or search for it on YouTube. (You can also download a copy of the video in podcast form on iTunes. Just search for “Don’t Copy That Floppy 2”.)

The video is intended to be fun to watch while also conveying the message that pirating software and content carries stiff penalties and can ruin your life. We hope “Don’t Copy That 2” will prevent piracy by helping people make better choices when it comes to downloading or purchasing copyrighted works. The video even concludes with an appearance from convicted software pirate Jeremiah Mondello, who issues a warning about the consequences of software piracy from a federal prison in Oregon.

An extended and modified educational version of “Don’t Copy That 2”  will be released for distribution to classrooms early next year.

See what others are saying about the video:

Wall Street Journal -- http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/09/08/dont-copy-that-floppy-dusts-itself-off-for-the-00s/?blog_id=100&post_id=6373

CNNmoney -- http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/09/news/piracy_floppy/?postversion=2009090914

Technologizer - http://technologizer.com/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94574-Dont-Copy-That-2-Hits-the-Tubes

http://www.examiner.com/x-20129-Denver-Games-Gadgets--Technology-Examiner

6IW.com - http://www.6iw.com/

Popular Fidelity - http://www.popfi.com/

Overclock.net - Overclocking.net - http://www.overclock.net/

UFies.org - http://ufies.org/

CodyDelzer.com BLOG - http://www.codydelzer.com/

The Games News - http://thegames-news.com/

Yesterday, thanks to the video being mentioned on sites like boingboing, slashdot and several other sites, the trailer for SIIA's new anti-piracy video, titled Don't Copy That 2 (DCT2), went viral with over 30,000 hits in one day.   It even made its way to France.   Not surprisingly, the comments are quite similar to what we saw with the original Don't Copy That Floppy video about 17 years ago... the usual rants and anti-copyright, anti-corporate invective, mixed in with some thoughtful arguments defending the rights of content creators and enjoying excerpts from the video.  Many people can't seem to figure out whether the video is a parody or serious or something in between.  I guess they'll have to wait for the actual video to be released later this summer to find out.  For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the video or why, 17 years later, we decided to make a sequel, check out my prior blog.

I’d like you to take a trip back with me to the early 1990’s -- a time when the high tech industry was exploding with new and innovative hardware and software in the form of business applications, games, and much more.  Unfortunately, with these new innovations came rampant copyright violations.  Adults and kids were beginning to copy software, almost without thinking about it.  Some were doing so knowingly.  While others were simply not aware that their actions were illegal.

As any good trade association would do, SIIA (then known as SPA, the Software Publishers Association) jumped in and took immediate action.  We decided to embark on a broad education campaign to enlighten the public at large – particularly focusing on school kids.  Our message was simple – to teach kids the importance of copyright protection as a means for encouraging innovation and creativity and the dangers of software piracy.

The result of our efforts was the VERY popular video called “Don’t Copy That Floppy!”  

The video was a huge success in the schools in the 90’s.  Year after year, the video – along with the copyright lesson plans – were used by thousands of teachers across the country to educate their students to respect copyright and to not copy software illegally

Now, lets fast-forward to 2009.  Floppies are long gone.  SPA is now SIIA.  And people generally know much more about copyright -- thanks in large part to the likes of Napster, YouTube and John Doe lawsuits brought by the recording industry.

But, as they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The high-tech industry continues to explode with new and innovative hardware and software in the form of business applications and games.  And, just like in the 90’s, if not more so, copyright violations continue to be rampant.  In fact, today it’s not just software that’s being pirated.  It’s music, movies and, of course, digital content (like newspaper and magazine articles, books, and test materials).

Even though floppies no longer exist and the video is very outdated, it continues to be as popular as ever.  You can find groups devoted to the video on facebook, discussion groups and various websites (where you can even buy your very own "DCTF thong!).  There are close to 100 versions of the video posted on YouTube. When you search for the video on Google you get tens of thousands of hits.  Perhaps, most importantly, despite being quite outdated, Don’t Copy That Floppy continues to be shown to students throughout the country.

Even now – 17 years after it was first launched --  the Don’t Copy That Floppy video is easily the most successful and most popular copyright educational video of all time.  If you don’t believe me just ask yourself – when was the last time someone actually copied a floppy. (insert laugh track here).

So, 17 years after we first released the original Don’t Copy That Floppy, after being swamped with requests, we have decided to make a sequel, aptly named Don’t Copy That Too (DCT2).  Even though the video won't be released until next month you can check out a preview of the new video.