Matt has asked if I could elaborate on the following paragraph posted on my website sometime ago.
"All of this exclusive film and the bizarre secrets it reveals will be available on the Net in what can only be described as an unprecedented event itself. You will experience through the eye of the camera, the entire expedition as I did. …instead of assembled sound bites and the pieces of film spliced together, you will ‘witness' it all; life on the streets in the 60's, love-ins, anti-war demonstrations, riots and the man who eclipsed it all, Charles Manson, uncensored."
About twelve years ago I rough cut (assembled) the MANSON footage described above into a five hour mini-series: "The Legend of Charles Manson". Only the sound effects and the narration were not yet incorporated into the project. Then, with eBay and Amazon providing a venue in which bad guys could unload their illegal wares, a New Jersey counterfeit ring started making and distributing unauthorized DVD copies of my 1973 MANSON film. I filed a Federal lawsuit in hopes that eBay would stop the "pirating" conducted on its website. But the Court determined that the US Congress intended for Internet service providers, via the DMCA, to be free of any obligations that might inhibit them from violating already established secondary liability laws.
Of course, then I was faced with the realization that if I finished the mini-series and released it, it would be immediately "pirated" all over the world. Especially, because I was going to put it on the web via a "pay-per-view" business model. So, I eventually thought of making an 85-minute condensed version of the "The Legend" series to test the actual extent to which widespread Internet "piracy" has taken over America and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, as this recent YouTube email proclaims: "Pirating will always be around."
"Dude, you have more Family jams and Watkins/Brooks recordings? Stuff that hasn't been released? Release it please! Pirating will always be around. What are you going to do, let it rot?"
And yes, the 1970 filmed Family Jams and the Watkins/Brooks recordings are included in the "The Legend" series, but should I try again at releasing more MANSON material, in the hopes that a different result will occur? Instead of victimizing myself with even more insanity, I decided to write a book which incorporates most all of the dialogue recorded during the making of the MANSON material from late 1969 through the summer of 1972. Obviously, the result is "Death to Pigs".
Because the paper and ink book publishing business is now in a bad way and the DVD market has been all but destroyed by the illegal downloading on the Internet, I came up with a new marketing idea. I'm still trying to work it all out, but the plan is to also release the MANSON book as a "play-book". That is, to allow those who purchase it with the intent to perform the work on the stage as a play, to maintain all the ticket sales monies they earn for themselves. In other words, a high school or college drama class can purchase copies of "Death to Pigs" for each speaking part and be granted permission under my copyright to perform the work for profit.
So, instead of a school just performing the same of "establishment" type entertainment for the community's elders, young actors will have an opportunity to do something dramatic, meaningful, mentally stimulating, and profitable for their school. This can easily become a win-win situation for everyone. Maybe this could even lead to "Death to Pigs" on Broadway starring the new Lindsay Lohan. What do you all think?
Robert Hendrickson
