I was reading blogs the other day and saw one (now I can’t remember which one, dagnappit!) which linked to a site that has all the episodes of Carl Sagan’s "Cosmos" online, except for the 4th one. I have no idea if this is legal or not, but any chance to watch Cosmos… Sagan was a master.
Update: the consensus is in, and the site is illegal, so I took down the link.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising
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July 16th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Dang, and I just bought the whole DVD set for $100+! Oh well, the series is cool, although I try to avoid watching it when I’m sleepy…
July 16th, 2007 at 11:32 am
While it’s cool that it’s available online, I would encourage you all to buy the DVDs. You can get them for $75-$100 depending on the store. Support the Planety Society!
July 16th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Cool, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. But thanks anyways for the link, I’ll start watching now before the videos are removed by the evil feds
July 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Pretty sure myself it’s not legal. Just like a place with a .uk web suffix that shows via streaming video all the original Twilight Zone episodes.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:52 am
It’s definitely illegal, and I would recommend that you remove this thread from the blog a.s.a.p. No need to encourage piracy–even in the name of science education.
(This is sort of like putting up a link to an online copy of your “Bad Astronomy” book. No need to buy a copy, or borrow one from a library when you can simply read it online for free.)
As Dave points out, there are plenty of legal ways to obtain the videos. Those who want to obtain it in other ways do not need any hints from you.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:54 am
TV Links (http://tv-links.co.uk/) has all 13 chapters (#4 is “Heaven an Hell”), plus the bastard chapter 14, “A Dialogue Between Carl Sagan & Ted Turner”. Ted made such a damn fool of himself in that one.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:57 am
You have ‘no idea’ if it’s legal? Are you sure?
(And yes, I’m guilty too of downloading hard to find TV shows. I await the police.)
July 16th, 2007 at 11:59 am
The *links* to the videos are perfectly legal. It’s the hosts & posters who are in violation. When the copyright holders discover their stuff online, it’s up to them to chastise the guilty parties. For all anyone clicking a link knows, a given program may have been posted willingly by its owner.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Of course, if buying a series of e.g. Mythbusters on DVD was less expensive than the complete set of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry, then it might be easier to resist the temptation to download the occasional documentary.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Buying the boxed set is worth every penny. I don’t think it’s a good idea for a blog like this one to support piracy. There are plenty of places and sites to retrieve that information from- but I would hope that someone does take the time to negotiate out a reasonable agreement with the copyright holder that allows the free webcasting of this amazing program.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Christian, of course the videos are posted illegally. The sites used to host the videos are host to all kinds of copyrighted content that they obviously don’t have permission to broadcast.
Just because I can’t be 100% certain, doesn’t mean I can’t use common sense to figure out that the copyright holders would prefer you to pay for their material rather than get it for free.
And yes, I know linking to the site is not illegal, but if I started posting links to Phil’s book, and other copyrighted astronomy books posted online without permission, how long do you think those links would survive here?
July 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Some people might not be able to afford the expenses.
I, for one, bought the DVD series over 2 years ago (it’s great that its 0 area so I can play it in area 4 coded DVD’s).
But some people, might not afford to buy it, or even have problems to find it and don’t trust online stores, even the mail service in their country, there are a number of other reasons I can think of about the broadcasting of COSMOS in a way that is affordable to almost everyone.
Just hope that this doesn’t cause any problems whatsoever to anyone :S
July 16th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
By the way, Netflix and Blockbuster both have Cosmos available for rent, if you want to avoid paying $75+ to buy your own copy.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
And yes, I know linking to the site is not illegal, but if I started posting links to Phil’s book, and other copyrighted astronomy books posted online without permission,
To go on a tangent, check out podiobooks.com
It’s a completely legal website which has quite a few audiobooks which you can listen to absolutely free. I recomment Scott Sigler’s books, as well as 7th son.
And don’t forget to donnate, or buy the (print) books! We all like free stuff, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. These authors are going out on a limb to provide their books for free, the least we can do is donnate a few bucks.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
And yes, I know linking to the site is not illegal, but if I started posting links to Phil’s book, and other copyrighted astronomy books posted online without permission,
To go on a tangent, check out podiobooks.com
It’s a completely legal website which has quite a few audiobooks which you can listen to absolutely free. I recommend Scott Sigler’s books, as well as 7th son.
And don’t forget to donate, or buy the (print) books! We all like free stuff, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. These authors are going out on a limb to provide their books for free, the least we can do is donate a few bucks.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Crap. I knew that would happen. Why the heck does it wait until I refresh about 8 times and then post again in order to show my comment? Grr.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Tacitus: I agree. Kind of. Yes- we’re all rationalizing our illegal actions.
Your analogy is interesting. I suspect that the BA wouldn’t be too bothered if someone put up an illegal copy of his book on a website somewhere. His publishers would get annoyed though.
I know that in the one instance I had an advance PDF of a book- I ended up buying the book anyway, because it’s just so much more convenient- and I like supporting the authors.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
As someone who lost his job in the DVD industry (DVD Asset Manager for a major Compression/Encoding/Authoring studio) due to cutbacks resulting from declining sales resulting from rampant piracy, I’d rather not see anyone download copyrighted material illegally, or encourage the illegal downloading of copyrighted material.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be sending out a few dozen more résumés, and then I’ll go try to figure out how to pay the bills until I can secure another job without having to relocate.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
legal – no, even carl would agree, he was big on protecting his name and any thing that had to do with it so he was big on copy right
appple tried making a line in the 80’s code name the carl sagan but he didnt like it to well and sued to have them remove such a title.. i though thats a put harsh but i dont apple either. still i cant see carl as the sue happy guy but he did a few time.. i guess when you have a name such as Carl Sagan to protect you do what ever you have to
July 16th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
>>> Yes- we’re all rationalizing our illegal actions.
I don’t. I copy music and movies and don’t give a crap what anyone thinks.
Keep the link up, Phil. FIGHT THE POWER!
July 16th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Before I could put a link on the forum to an electronic copy on one of my websites I had made of an old conference paper about the Voyager space craft, I needed to get the written permission of the institution who held the copyright, which I did.
Here out of interest
Would it not be an idea to get the written permission of those who still hold the rights to this series before posting the link, just to be consistent?
July 16th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I saw these online a few months ago and then noticed a little later they were taken down as copyright violations.
(shrug)
Wouldn’t it make more sense to put educational material like this for sale on iTunes or some such service?
July 16th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Just an FYI….
http://www11.alluc.org/alluc/tv-shows.html?action=getviewcategory&category_uid=2230
July 16th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Watch until Sagan utters, “billions and billions”.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Personally, I think things like this are teasers and end up pushing ME to buy the hardcopy. Same goes for music and books. I prefer to own my own, and not have to hope a certain website is up or whathaveyou.
The plight if the artists/authors/ect is a severe and significant one; I am simply adding my own insights. I have downloaded myriad illegal songs but in the end they have (mostly) pushed me towards buying a new artist or finding rare live cuts. It, illegal material, will never go away, we just have to be responsible about it. The aged question of ‘if person A buys a book and lends it to person B, the author loses their pay” is not a trivial question, and is at play here I believe.
I know that I speak as one person – the only book I downloaded was “flatland” and I am still searching for a *real* hardcopy of it. If found, I would buy it. But the only way I would have learned to love it was to download it (yes, i recognize that it is past its copyright date and thus is LEGAL to download…but i used it for simplicity)
July 16th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Random tangent thoughts above….sorry.
The stuff I have “stolen” from the web has furnished my desire to own more of that artist. Myspace has filled a gap quite micely, but before that I dloaded much, and my music collection blossomed from it. We both won. Not everyone acts this way, but some do. Dont forget the “some”.
Clear skies in BC today…..im pacing my house waiting for the 1am darkness!
July 16th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Monkey,
Regarding Flatland specifically, that book is in the public domain. Even if some publisher is printing & selling new bound copies, there’s no good reason to believe you’re stealing someone’s supper over it, and others which are in a similar state. There’s a good reason why copyrights expire after a prescribed time. It’s unhealthy for civilization to have intellectual works remain indefinitely the exclusive monopoly of some special interest, including the original author or its estate.
Additionally, if A buys a book and lends it to B, whether or not that deprives the author of revenue is a moot point. Libraries have been lending books royalty-free for a long time.
July 16th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
The Cosmos revenue is used to support TPS projects like Solar sails. Of course the Russian boosters always screw up and the missions fail but it was a noble effort. If you illegally watch the Cosmos movies online, why not go to http://www.planetary.org and give them a few bucks? Sort of like tipping your waiter. And incidentally in Cosmos Dr. Sagan never says Billions and Billions, that was a Carson parody.
To Ann Druyan et al. why not get Neil Degrasse Tyson to do an updated Pale Blue Dot for PBS? It could get the next generation (yes it has been 25 years since Cosmos aired on PBS) interested in Cosmos and lo and behold we could do 21st century special effects! Pale Blue Dot is sort of Cosmos comes home. Obviously the chapter about Cassini and Saturn could be rewritten to explore some of the findings of the successful mission.
July 16th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Troy: I think Tim G was being ironical…
I agree with Mark Martin and I will add that the Internet is performing a much needed job, equivalent to that of libraries but for newer information sharing media.
July 16th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Regarding books like Flatland, Project Gutenberg has a large collection of public-domain books available for download. Neither the book nor the video of Cosmos is in the public domain yet.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Mark Martin,
you reiterated the point I was trying to make on both counts. I said that flatland was in public domain (no longer under copyright) and I tried to be less obvious (maybe I should not have been) about the library situation. Moot indeed, I just posited that “sharing” and “stealing” have fuzzy borders when you compare downloading a track or a book off of a strangers computer (illegal) and taking a book out of the library with no royalties reaching the author (legal).
Fuzzy borders was the main point. Moot, indeed, perhaps.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
In Britain, and some other countries, authors do a small royalty every time a book of theirs is borrowed–up to a certain amount, $12,000 in the UK I believe.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Monkey
http://www.amazon.com/Flatland-Romance-Dimensions-Thrift-Editions/dp/048627263X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5731784-8097631?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184650803&sr=8-1
And, believe it or not, the movie version:
http://www.amazon.com/Flatland-Film-Ladd-P-Ehlinger/dp/B000NJ60FM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-5731784-8097631?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1184650803&sr=8-2
July 17th, 2007 at 5:03 am
Now they disappeared but some time ago they were also available at Google Video…
July 17th, 2007 at 5:39 am
I purchased the Cosmos DVD set a while ago, and was gifted with the book by my mother in law last month (haven’t had a chance to read it yet, though- stupid ongoing certification requirements. grrr.) I’ve only managed to watch the first 2 disks so far (same reason
) but it’s definitely had an impact on my 8 year-old (who likes to go out and look through my telescope with me sometimes, too).
July 17th, 2007 at 6:18 am
Wow, I haven’t seen this since I was a kid. Makes me want to buy the DVDs.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:44 am
YouTube and Google Video also have Cosmos online.
Just enter Cosmos plus a number (like Cosmos
in the
search box to get the full episode, not just clips.
I think the series needs to be distributed as widely as possible.
Its information and messages belong to everyone. There’s a
whole new generation who needs to listen to Carl Sagan.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:55 am
The sequel to cosmos is also on Google Video! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2588435272514121795&q=documentary+duration%3Along&total=9893&start=10&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=6
July 17th, 2007 at 9:36 am
i was contacted by someone who was looking at my Carl Sagan-inspired art-work and sent me the link:
http://kasranov.blogspot.com
July 17th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Which art of yours is Carl Sagan inspired?
July 17th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
I was thinking about buying the series a couple years back. I loved it when it was originally on and was truely inspired by Sagan. It was great to watch the first episode again, think I will buy it now.
The piano at the beginning and end always got to me. Was that created for the series or some great composistion I should know about?
July 18th, 2007 at 3:23 am
Cabman, the music you’re talking about is from Vangelis’ “Heavan and Hell” album, from which the developers of Cosmos obtained the theme to the show.
Listen to the opening track of Pale Blue Dot episode one… the two folks before me linked to it. It’s also by Vangelis, off his Oceanic album.
lk
October 26th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
As far as the legality of things go, many of Carl’s ‘Cosmos’ has been floating around on YouTube/GoogleVideo and the like. Because it is deemed illegal, they always seem to get removed and then appear again.
Who is that benefiting? When you think about it, it’s allowing people to discover Carl’s work and learn… a much greater chance of doing so, too.
If someone wants to buy the entire collection, they WILL do so. I find it a bit petty that law says certain episode cuts and clips cannot be hosted on such sites. They are benefiting people by being there…
I recently guided someone to watch “Pale Blue Dot” (clip on YouTube) and I can only say, they are now looking at life in a different way.
That’s my take
Steve