Re: Keith Sanborn and the $30 bootlegged tape

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: : NOT BORED! sees value in Keith Sanborn's production of a subtitled : : videocassette version of Guy Debord's 1973 film La Societe du : : Spectacle. The availability of such a videotape cannot fail to : : introduce Debord and other the situationists' critique of "the society : : of the spectacle" to Englishing-speaking audiences that might not have : : otherwise been aware of or receptive to the significance and enduring : : usefulness of Debord's 1967 book (which bears the same title as the : : film). NOT BORED! also believes that Keith Sanborn should be : : adequately compensated for his efforts, which mostly involved the : : subtitling and duplication processes. (Very little "new" material : : needed to be translated, precisely because the film so closely follows : : Debord's book, of which translations have been in circulation since : : the 1970s.) : : But it is clear that Keith Sanborn is demonstrably attempting to : : receive more financial compensation than is appropriate for someone : : who claims to be interested in furthering the situationist project, : : and not simply making a buck off of it. In a word, we firmly believe : : that -- in charging between $30 and $40 for copies of the subtitled : : tape -- he is gouging. We believe this even though we know that (he : : claims) this admirable project cost $7,000 to bring to completion. We : : also believe that he should be held accountable, so to speak, for his : : shameless profiteering, if not financially, then at least in the eyes : : of his peers in the international post-situationist scene. : : : : We must remind all concerned that Sanborn's videocassette is nothing : : but a pirate edition, a bootleg, an illegal duplication of a film that : : was originally made by a man who committed suicide in 1994 and thus : : cannot do anything to prevent or denounce clear abuses such as this. : : Sanborn's "new" translation of the film's voiceover, as well as his : : creation, distribution and very well-attended (and thus highly : : profitable) public screenings of the subtitled videocassette, are most : : definitely NOT authorized by the estate of Guy Debord. As Sanborn : : himself knows, it is only a matter of time before Alice Becker-Ho : : (Debord's widow) learns of what he is doing, and instructs her lawyers : : to ask Sanborn to cease and desist from these unauthorized and illegal : : activities. : : In the meantime -- or, rather, before the situationist shit hits the : : international fan -- Sanborn is trying to receive more than adequate : : compensation for his efforts: he is clearly trying to make as much : : money as possible. If it cost a total of $7,000 to complete this : : project, why aren't copies of the tape priced at $10 each? It is : : clearly reasonable to expect that, over a reasonably short period of : : time, 1000 people would buy a copy of the tape if it were reasonably : : priced. At $10 a copy, Keith Sanborn would stand to get back all of : : his original investment and a $3,000 profit as well. But at $30 a : : copy, he stands to make a profit of $23,000 (again assuming 1000 : : people will eventually fork over the money). : : Think of it this way: What other 90 minute videotape on the market : : costs $30 or $40? If one were to go to, say, Blockbuster Video (not : : known for its low prices), and discretely inquire as to what item in : : the store costs $30, the answer would be, "Well, the director's cut of : : Natural Born Killers, which includes one full hour of previously cut : : footage, as well as never-before-seen interview segments with the : : director himself and all the important actors, retails for $27.95." In : : other words, Sanborn has drastically over-estimated or deliberately : : ignored the relative cultural value of the subtitled bootleg he has : : produced. But professional bootleggers -- who are not widely known or : : respected for keeping their greed under control -- do know the : : relative cultural value of a bootlegged videcassette, which translates : : into $15 or $20 a copy, at the very most. "To live outside the law, : : you must be honest," Bob Dylan sang many years ago. Keith Sanborn is : : living outside the law, but he is not being honest. : : One thinks here of Ken Knabb, and how much Keith Sanborn is different : : from him. In 1981, when he first published The Situationist : : International Anthology, Knabb priced it at only $10 a copy, despite : : the facts that it was a huge book (many times the size of Debord's : : 1967 book) upon which he'd spent years of his time, and that it was a : : book that he published himself, with his own funds. Quite obviously, : : Knabb -- as someone genuinely committed to the situationist project -- : : knew that he was undertaking a long haul: there would be very little : : demand for the Anthology in the short-term; he wouldn't make any money : : (back) for several years, if at all; over the course of 10 or 15 : : years, he might be adequately compensated for his efforts. Hindsight : : shows that Ken Knabb was right. Today, copies of The Anthology cost : : $15 (still a bargain) and Ken Knabb is well-respected by nearly : : everyone in the post-situationist milieu. But what will people say : : about Keith Sanborn in 10 or 15 years? Well, what are they saying : : today? : : When priced at $30 to $40 each, copies of Debord's film are too : : expensive for students, the unemployed and the working classes -- in : : other words, for precisely the very people about and for whom Debord's : : film was made in the first place. Indeed, Sanborn's subtitled : : videotape is so expensive that even independent bookstores cannot : : stock it without losing money. The only "people" who can afford these : : ridiculously inflated prices are relatively large institutions such as : : libraries and film societies, and such relatively-well paid : : college-level teachers as Sanborn himself -- in other words, the very : : people and things from which Debord so unequivocably and completely : : distanced himself during his lifetime. : : NOT BORED! has obtained one of Sanborn's over-priced, unauthorized and : : subtitled reproductions of Debord's film, and has used it to generate : : good quality second-generation copies, which we are selling for $5 : : postpaid (domestic orders) and $10 postpaid (international ones), : : while they last. Please send cash only to PO Box 1115, Stuyvesant : : Station, NYC 10009-9998. E-mail can be directed to rose@thorn.net. : : Since Sanborn is also selling unauthorized, subtitled videocassettes : : of Rene Vienet's 1973 film Can Dialectics Break Bricks? for $30 to $40 : : each, we would be obviously be pleased if this film escaped from : : Sanborn's clucthes in the way we have helped La Societe du Spectacle : : escape. : : This text may be freely reproduced and distributed, for if and when : : Madame Debord's lawyers contact us, they will be contacting both clear : : consciences and meagre bank accounts. : : 16 November 1996

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