My Take

Regular visitors to this blog might have noticed that I've taken down the movie links in my sidebar. In the last few weeks, YouTube has removed the links to some of these movies, most notably Pride and Prejudice 1940 and the 1980 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Some of the links I once featured are still active, but I decided to take them down as well.

While I will not participate in creating something that willfully violates copyright laws, I do and have linked to YouTube movies of Jane Austen novels. Why? Well, first, because they are there. They are generally very poor blurry copies and no way compete with the real thing: the actual theatre experience or viewing a DVD on your home player. Leo Laporte, the Tech Guy, contends that such links do not stop people from purchasing their own DVD's. In fact, they often act as advertisements and induce interested watchers into purchasing the real thing.

Second, I own VHS tapes and DVDs to all but two of the movies I featured. In fact, in a few cases I own both the VHS and DVD version of the same movie! Between purchasing my own videos, paying for On Demand viewing, paying for Netflix, paying a monthly Internet fee, and paying to see these movies at the theatre, I've invested more than my share.

Steve Jobs recently predicted that soon DVD's will be a thing of the past. His company, Apple, is offering movie downloads for Ipods. These downloads, though reasonable in cost, will last for only two days. You are forced to pay for a short rental, so to speak, and will have to pay again if you wish to see the same movie in the future.

When does our having to pay to see the same flick over and over end? (Notice I said same, not new.) Back in the 90's I purchased the boxed sets from BBC of Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Sense & Sensibility for $59.95 per set. Not only are these tapes rapidly fading and deteriorating, but my ability to see them is disappearing as fast as the VHS player. I then purchased DVD's for around $19.95 for Emma, Sense & Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice, just to name a few Jane Austen films in my collection. Now I am beginning to wonder how long the DVD player will last. Can you see why I have no compunction viewing the tiny grainy videos that are featured on YouTube? I'm done paying through the nose for the same old thing, especially if I want to quickly review a scene, or compare two or three video versions of the same Jane Austen novel.

But I'm also through linking directly to YouTube movies. You can still find a link on my sidebar. From now on, unfortunately, you'll have to take a few extra steps to see if the movie you're looking for happens to be there. To legitimately purchase copies of your very own Jane Austen movies, click on the following links to Amazon.com and WGBH. I'll leave it to you to decide whether to purchase DVDs or rent multi-billionaire Steve Jobs' temporary links.

Posted by Ms. Place