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A searchable library of forgotten public-domain film clips from 1915 onward

218 points · 28 comments · momentmaker

paweladamczuk · 1790451130 · focus · HN ↗
This is really lovely. I think it's pretty obvious that it bases on sources like Internet Archive and the Library of Congress, but it does add value.
I just wonder if it can survive - is there a business model here? If not, it's just a tech demo and then it doesn't have value as the hosted version, it would have it if the whole processing/indexing pipeline was open sourced so that anyone can host it themselves and pay for their own infrastructure.
1. moritzwarhier · 1790454488 · focus · HN ↗
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  1. Forgeties79 · 1790457832 · focus · HN ↗
    >I don't understand your comprehension problems.
    You can make your point but you can’t and shouldn’t talk to people like this here. Especially when it’s clearly so unwarranted.
    shevy-java · 1790458583 · focus · HN ↗
    That's an assumption on your part though. To me both prior comments read rather clearly. And I don't see a problem with the content.
    Barbing · 1790461280 · focus · HN ↗
    Per “can’t” - The admins use a math example in the guidelines that’s kind of funny <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html">https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    moritzwarhier · 1790463668 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm sorry for overstepping/violating HN guidelines. My only plausible defense is that these were my genuine thoughts, without malicious intentions.
    Forgeties79 · 1790464354 · focus · HN ↗
    You think your phrasing wasn’t “malicious”?
  2. wildzzz · 1790459139 · focus · HN ↗
    Someone has to pay the hosting costs. I don't see an issue with asking for a nominal fee for access to a curated library (there is a lot of useless garbage in the public domain). Of course, anyone can do as they please with public domain media once they've accessed it, even building their own hosting site so it's not exactly a real money making idea.
    moritzwarhier · 1790461619 · focus · HN ↗
    A good start would be to create a legal framework that prevents good and ambitious ideas from turning into nefarious rent-seeking schemes.
    Already quite an unwieldy task, because without regulation, rent-seeking, extortion and negative value via enshittification, even plain theft and crime, will always be privileged.
    The people who do this and "earn" the money usually hardly understand the product idea, they're just inclined to extract the maximum amount of money from original inventors, educated engineers etc, but generally, people with stronger predatory business instincts and no domain knowledge or talent.
    And this economical incentive for cryptic fraud exists independent from any political camp; assuming you are brainwashed enough to equate "liberal" and "left-wing".
    Back to business:
    without scavenging instincts that turn good ideas into bad, predatory and endhittified crapware, capitalism wouldn't work: at least not for people without any skills exceeding (self-)marketing
    People who are best at beint predators providing negative value are the most privileged and pampered members of the workforce, because everyone knows in secret that GDP growth doesn't derive from skills or value, its origin is brute power.
  3. streetfighter64 · 1790464279 · focus · HN ↗
    > "Value" comes from - natural resources - extortion, if there is no sufficient legal boundary - marginal improvements in improving extortion and extraction efficiency
    That is false on its face. You tacitly admit it by implying that the public domain clips have value. Where'd that value come from? Natural resources or extortion? Or neither?
    Providing a service is not extracting rent. First of all, hosting these clips is in no way taking ownership of them. To extract rent on something you must first own it, that is, deny others usage of it. How's that possible when it comes to public domain?
    Secondly, taking a fee in order to pay for the upkeep of something, including the labor you yourself provide, is not extracting rent. That term only applies to when you take a fee that's not coupled to any labor, but only to ownership.

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