…at least for now.
You may already have guessed it. The last weeks I spent thinking about how to deal with this situation that has happened. I talked with other people, especially with Fritz, and came to the only conclusion: Stop it.
A quick recap what was going on: In May I got mails and telephone calls out of nowhere from girls, which have participated in the “Under Feet: University” clip three years ago. The video was uploaded at Pornhub and someone found it and posted the link in the public mailing list of the University, so that every student could see this.
I think I don’t need to tell you what a shitstorm this was.
Girls were crying on the phone in fear of their reputation and their career. Not to mention the whole impact this had on their private life.
Sure, I was not responsible for spreading the clip at Pornhub and it wasn’t my intention either. I always state that we aren’t doing porn here. I’m standing behind my projects with my name and my face. All involving girls get to know what we are doing and everybody is free to decide if she wants to participate or not. Even after filming the girls can revoke their permission, we are fine with that.
But the permission does not include Pornhub for sure!
Let’s first talk about the financial aspects here, as this was and is always a topic.
I can’t live from my projects. I couldn’t in the past, and won’t in the future. The money I gain through the shop is mostly stabilizing the fundament of fussphantasie. It pays my little studio, my equipment for doing those clips, the expenses I have and the rest goes into new stuff I need for creating films.
In that moment somebody shares the clips at sites illegally, such as Pornhub, the clip is “dead” for me. They get hundred thousands of views and all those viewers can download their own copy for free. One of the UF clips was illegally shared not more than 3 weeks after publishing. Do your own maths here, this simply doesn’t pay off in long term. So the question is: Why should I invest such amounts of work and money if it doesn’t pay itself at least? Simple answer: No one would do that.
But the main aspect aside from the money is, what does it mean for innocent girls to be found at Pornhub and am I able, or do I want to accept this furthermore?
I do almost everything I could to prevent credit card fraud and illegal sharing. But the assholes are always one step ahead of me. In fact, even if I know who was the uploader, I can’t do anything about it. Mostly the people come from non-EU countries and they are out of reach. (Correction: the last one came from Italy…)
I tried it with good words and a good belief in – let’s call it – humanity. I mailed some of the fraudsters if they have any conscience at all and asked how they would feel.
But the reality is: Even if 99% of my visitors are very nice and loyal people, the rest of 1% is not. They want the fast kick, they feel “proud” to share my stuff, regardless of any consequences at all. And those 1% are able to ruin everything.
I am not responsible for uploading my clips to porn sites, but I am responsible for my words I’m telling to the girls. And herewith I take my responsibility serious and announce for now the clinical death of “Under Feet”, one of the coolest projects I have ever done in my life. I’m so proud of it.
But this is a message to you, credit card fraudsters, uploaders and assholes: Fuck off!
You have won.
Sadly.