Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has recently gone on record stating that downloading and watching his films was fine as long as people didn’t try to make money off them. In a way, it’s a classic struggle between a filmmaker creating works he wants the world to see, while the studio that produced it would rather everyone pay to see it instead of downloading. Other directors have backed up his position and the current distributor is allowing the downloading to take place.

Here are Moore’s full quotes on the subject of 9/11 downloads:

I don’t agree with the copyright laws and I don’t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they’re not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that. I do well enough already and I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening. Is it wrong for someone who’s bought a film on DVD to let a friend watch it for free? Of course it’s not. It never has been and never will be. I think information, art and ideas should be shared.

Is this guy a movie director or one of our board members?

The increased exposure to his films, protection from commercial exploits, and general disagreement with current copyright sounds a lot like the reasons why Creative Commons was formed and why we have our licenses in the first place. Perhaps the next Moore film will be licensed, making the downloading legal from the start.