hoo boy. we had a few technical difficulties autonomous digital performances on this one, but that's what makes these things fun, right?
first off, an interview with a guy who married Hatsune Miku:
Well, not an interview with the guy himself, but with Sebastian Stein, an OG of VICE Japan, and current freelancer, who told us what it was like hanging out with three people who have married fictional characters. My favorite part of this is definitely the end: 'we choose fantasy' is such an interesting line, because really -- who actually wants to live in 100% reality? And how much of reality are we willing to face, either in ourselves, or in our partners?
In between the technical issues autonomous digital performances in this one, I'm glad we got to talk about our shared frustration with people asking us to make 'weird Japan' stuff. I mean, sure, Japan has some weird parts, but so does everywhere else!
Also, Sebastian shot, produced, and edited this entire thing. Wild.
Next up, Tyler Bloom, a 3rd year law student at Brooklyn Law School, on to talk about cops trying to 'copyright hack' by playing disney music.
The backstory is that I started writing about this a while ago. First, Sennet Devermont showed me a video of Beverly Hills PD playing Sublime in an apparent attempt to prevent his livestream from appearing on Instagram. Then it was the Beatles. Then in another state, country music. Then Taylor Swift in northern california. Then Disney music back down near Los Angeles.
We eventually put this video together:
But in the meantime, Tyler was hard at work on a Legal Note that would not only explain what was going on, but hopefully push awareness and maybe action (!!) in the legal community.
You can read his article, for free, here:
HACKING COPYRIGHT: HOLDING COPS ACCOUNTABLE FOR ABUSING YOUTUBE’S COPYRIGHT FILTER SYSTEM
side note: I am a huge fan of open access to academic work. Stuff like this should never be behind a paywall, so I am so appreciative that the public is able to read Tyler's stuff like this. Hugely important.
It's a pretty deep (and fun) discussion, but at the end, he gives a couple potential solutions. One has to do with companies like YouTube being more transparent about how their policies work; another has to do with potential consequences for police who try to use copyrighted music as a way to hide their actions from the public.
Neither one is a sure shot, but it's worth talking about, and thinking about.
And that's it for today.
You can watch the full VOD here:
We're live on Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday, starting 11am until whenever we feel like it, at twitch.tv/VICE. See you in the next one!