The Daily Background

Michael Moore discussed the internet leak of his new health care documentary “SiCKO” with MTV recently. Moore said of the leak, which hit Bit Torrent and other filesharing networks two weeks before the June 29th premier of his film “I’m just happy that people get to see my movies. I’m not a big supporter of the copyright laws in this country.”

Moore also recalled how he was turned on to bands such as The Clash after a friend gave him a pirated tape of their music. He said the band ended up making money off of him, because he went and bought their albums and concert tickets.

“I’ve always been happy in the past when teenagers have downloaded pirated copies of my movies because my movies until this point have all been R-rated,” the filmmaker noted. He also mentioned that he felt good that people who might not otherwise afford to see his work would be able to via the internet.

The copy of the film which emerged online last week was a DVD “screener” version, typically sent out to film critics and MPAA raters so that they could see the film before it hits theaters.

Moore, who has been a harsh critic of the Motion Picture Association of America in the past (he accused the MPAA of attemptig to censor his multi-million dollar “Fahrenheit 9/11″ by slapping it with an R-rating), said he’s long-opposed the ratings system in general.

Still, despite apparently endorsing unauthorized copying of his work, Moore said he didn’t think that movie theaters were going to die anytime soon. “I’m a filmmaker,” Moore said. “And I made this movie for you to see it on a 40-foot screen.”

“If I just wanted to make a TV show, on a little screen, I’d do that. Or if I wanted to do something for your laptop or your iPod, I would go do that. But I’ve chosen obviously to make things that I want seen on a big screen.” Moore said that those who don’t go to the theater to see is films often miss out on the atmosphere of watching a film with a couple hundred other people laughing, cat-calling and even throwing things at the screen that his films often provoke.

“As opposed to just sitting home alone, it’s not the same experience,” Moore said. “That’s why the movies will never be killed.”

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