In case anybody here hasn’t seen it, The IT Crowd had one of my favorite spoofs of these PSAs. It is pretty shocking to read that the original pirated both the music and the iconic typeface. I’d...
It is pretty shocking to read that the original pirated both the music and the iconic typeface. I’d love to hear more from an insider about what happened there (surely we’re past the statute of limitations now, right?)
Yea. I think a lot of comedians from the 1990s into 2010s ended up going down some degree of an alt-right pipeline because of a nasty combo of: People not grokking comedy.....Americans especially...
Yea. I think a lot of comedians from the 1990s into 2010s ended up going down some degree of an alt-right pipeline because of a nasty combo of:
People not grokking comedy.....Americans especially have problems with British comics.
People disproportionately responding to a perceived offense, especially as social media online harassment really started hitting the mainstream (this was a problem across the board).
Those two combined resulting in comedians rebelling against perceived or real censorship with more offensive comedy. See Dave Chappelle or Ricky Gervais.
Comedians end up going down a rabbithole of hate to one degree or another.
Like, in the case of Graham in particular...mostly a decent person prior to this. No sexual assault ala Louis CK or Russel Brand. Notice that almost all of his comedy is some degree of sexist, ableist, or homophobic if you take all of the character's actions as "the good guy doing the right thing" completely out of context. The episode he caught the most flak for, The Speech, is honestly one of the least problematic in that regard, when taken in context.
But most of the characters perpetuating the bad things are, generally, shitheads. In aforementioned "The Speech," Douglas is the one dating a trans woman. He's also an incredibly narcissistic, shallow, sexist character, and has been from his very introduction. Him breaking up with her, and subsequently getting into a fistfight, very much fits his character.
This sort of framing would certainly explain a lot of now incredibly-problematic comedians. Not that it excuses them.
Assuming the comments are accurate what they did seems worse than personal use piracy. The accusation is they stole both music and a font and then went on to distribute usage of the stolen works.
Assuming the comments are accurate what they did seems worse than personal use piracy. The accusation is they stole both music and a font and then went on to distribute usage of the stolen works.
I appreciate you setting the record straight! The comments on OP’s post also allege that a font was “pirated” for at least some of the supplemental materials for the campaign.
I appreciate you setting the record straight! The comments on OP’s post also allege that a font was “pirated” for at least some of the supplemental materials for the campaign.
This may not be piracy. Typefaces are not covered by US copyright law. Anyone can make a typeface identical to another one provided they do it via the right legal loopholes. So if Catapult made...
This may not be piracy. Typefaces are not covered by US copyright law. Anyone can make a typeface identical to another one provided they do it via the right legal loopholes. So if Catapult made their own version of FF Confidential... that's potentially perfectly legal. They probably had licenses for the mainstream fonts like Helvetica Oblique and so on that they used elsewhere in the video, most digital agencies have those typefaces in standard graphics/video packages.
Catapult definitely ripped off the music though, I seem to recall reading something by it's author many years ago.
It is extremely unlikely that they would illegally use music without a license but care enough about font copyright to recreate the font from scratch (something that I think would not be remotely...
So if Catapult made their own version of FF Confidential... that's potentially perfectly legal.
It is extremely unlikely that they would illegally use music without a license but care enough about font copyright to recreate the font from scratch (something that I think would not be remotely worth the effort compared to the licensing costs of even an expensive font) rather than doing the same thing and using the font without a license. Even if it's technically not impossible, it would be far more absurd than the alternative.
Catapult is the entity behind just the font, not the PSA. The PSA was a joint effort by FACT and the MPA, which ripped the music and used the XBAND Rough font created by Catapult. Interestingly, I...
Catapult is the entity behind just the font, not the PSA. The PSA was a joint effort by FACT and the MPA, which ripped the music and used the XBAND Rough font created by Catapult.
Interestingly, I can't find Catapult. They don't seem to exist anymore, and they're certainly not selling their font right now in 2025. So given the music thing,[1] I do wonder if FACT and the MPA actually legally licensed the font or if they pirated a ripoff. My searching only brought up this Hacker News comment that seemingly was able to find more information, that says that Catapult was defunct at that point and the font was almost surely pirated as well.
In case anybody here hasn’t seen it, The IT Crowd had one of my favorite spoofs of these PSAs.
It is pretty shocking to read that the original pirated both the music and the iconic typeface. I’d love to hear more from an insider about what happened there (surely we’re past the statute of limitations now, right?)
The IT Crowd is one of the best TV shows ever produced. One of the most accurate representations of front-line tech workers in that era.
Too bad about Graham though. I enjoy a lot of his work...
Yea. I think a lot of comedians from the 1990s into 2010s ended up going down some degree of an alt-right pipeline because of a nasty combo of:
Like, in the case of Graham in particular...mostly a decent person prior to this. No sexual assault ala Louis CK or Russel Brand. Notice that almost all of his comedy is some degree of sexist, ableist, or homophobic if you take all of the character's actions as "the good guy doing the right thing" completely out of context. The episode he caught the most flak for, The Speech, is honestly one of the least problematic in that regard, when taken in context.
But most of the characters perpetuating the bad things are, generally, shitheads. In aforementioned "The Speech," Douglas is the one dating a trans woman. He's also an incredibly narcissistic, shallow, sexist character, and has been from his very introduction. Him breaking up with her, and subsequently getting into a fistfight, very much fits his character.
This sort of framing would certainly explain a lot of now incredibly-problematic comedians. Not that it excuses them.
Assuming the comments are accurate what they did seems worse than personal use piracy. The accusation is they stole both music and a font and then went on to distribute usage of the stolen works.
It's a bit of a misunderstanding.
https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/
I appreciate you setting the record straight! The comments on OP’s post also allege that a font was “pirated” for at least some of the supplemental materials for the campaign.
This may not be piracy. Typefaces are not covered by US copyright law. Anyone can make a typeface identical to another one provided they do it via the right legal loopholes. So if Catapult made their own version of FF Confidential... that's potentially perfectly legal. They probably had licenses for the mainstream fonts like Helvetica Oblique and so on that they used elsewhere in the video, most digital agencies have those typefaces in standard graphics/video packages.
Catapult definitely ripped off the music though, I seem to recall reading something by it's author many years ago.
It is extremely unlikely that they would illegally use music without a license but care enough about font copyright to recreate the font from scratch (something that I think would not be remotely worth the effort compared to the licensing costs of even an expensive font) rather than doing the same thing and using the font without a license. Even if it's technically not impossible, it would be far more absurd than the alternative.
Catapult is the entity behind just the font, not the PSA. The PSA was a joint effort by FACT and the MPA, which ripped the music and used the XBAND Rough font created by Catapult.
Interestingly, I can't find Catapult. They don't seem to exist anymore, and they're certainly not selling their font right now in 2025. So
given the music thing,[1] I do wonder if FACT and the MPA actually legally licensed the font or if they pirated a ripoff. My searching only brought up this Hacker News comment that seemingly was able to find more information, that says that Catapult was defunct at that point and the font was almost surely pirated as well.I think this comment would be more applicable directly to @mat, since I was just quoting him, but thank you for the information!