Louis C.K. knows how to treat people; particularly, people who illegally record and (probably) intend to share his shows online. After a recent show in Ashville, NC, Louis posted this to Twitter:
Naturally, most bootleggers wouldn’t respond to such a request fearing repercussions. Louis tried to dispel any distrust by quickly following with this:
It didn’t take long for pmartin6245 to fulfill Louis’ request and offer to give him an iPhone recording that his friend had made. Judging by Louis’ response, crisis averted.
If you’re a Louis C.K. fan, this probably isn’t a huge surprise because he’s one of the most grounded big-time comedians out there. Interestingly, Louis has successfully negotiated with file sharers in the past to have content removed from Mininova, a popular BitTorrent tracker. How did he do this? By being respectful and level-headed rather than threatening and trigger-happy.
More artists need to take a cue from Louis, who seems to acknowledge that there isn’t much he can do about people who choose to break the law and record his shows. What sets Louis apart from other artists is that rather than becoming angry and lawsuit-hungry, he simply makes it work for him — without a bootlegger in the audience, Louis would probably have lost some good material.
All you artists out there write this down. Take a page from the Louis C.K. playbook and adapt. Not only will the fans love you for it, but you may find a way to co-exist with the pirates and bootleggers.
Well done, Louis. Stay classy.
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