Old Man Narrates Young Girl
2011-11-21 · letter vlog · John · 3:31 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Books & writing, Personal life) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, self promotion, on location
From an English teachers' conference in Chicago, John explains the two audiobooks of The Fault in Our Stars as copyright working well, then argues that copyright is complex, that fair use limits once cut a Millay quotation from Looking for Alaska, and that the bills before Congress (SOPA) would deepen the advantage of those who can afford lawyers.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Greeting and 'man bra' gag; John at a crowded English teachers' conference in Chicago and what came before it
- ★★ John is in Chicago at a very crowded English teachers' conference, enjoying talking about books with teachers and signing his name again. — 00:00:05 · Chicago (city)
- ★ Before the conference John had a very luxurious bath, rode an elevator with Henry and a stroller, visited the Bean, ate breakfast where the hostess was a nerdfighter, and met Chicago traffic. (playful) — 00:00:16 · Henry Green, Chicago (city)
00:00:35 — Narrating The Fault in Our Stars at Brilliance Audio: Kate Rudd's real audiobook and John's box-set version; shared audio rights as copyright working
- ★★ Before Chicago, John was at Brilliance Audio, his audiobook publisher, narrating The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:35 · The Fault in Our Stars, Chicago (city)
- ★★★ There will be two audiobooks of The Fault in Our Stars: the real one narrated by Kate Rudd, available everywhere, and John's, only in a physical limited-edition box set from DFTBA. — 00:00:41 · The Fault in Our Stars, DFTBA Records
- ★ John says Kate Rudd sounds exactly like Hazel and her recording is brilliant, while he sounds like a 34-year-old man, which makes for awkward moments. — 00:00:49 · Hazel Grace Lancaster
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★★★ Two audiobooks are possible because Brilliance shared the audio rights with him innovatively; John says that is how copyright law works when it works. — 00:01:09 · DFTBA Records
“nice people, sometimes with lawyers, get together and figure out what's fair”
00:01:24 — Reply to Hank's copyright video: the bills are crazy, copyright is complex, Creative Commons is not practical for everything
- ★★ John says Hank, in his last video, correctly called the copyright measures before Congress 'a steaming hot slice of crazy'. (playful) — 00:01:24 · United States Congress
- ★★★ John argues copyright is complex: posting a quote from his book on Tumblr is fine, posting the whole book is infringement, and where the line falls is ill-defined. — 00:01:34 · Tumblr
- ★★ John doesn't think Creative Commons bypasses these problems: he is a fan and both brothers have released songs and zombie novellas under it, but it isn't practical for everything. — 00:01:47
00:02:00 — Example: in 2004 Penguin lawyers cut a Millay quotation from Looking for Alaska under fair use; today he could pay
- ★★ John offers the Looking for Alaska cut as an example of the complexity of fair use and its chilling effect on discourse. — 00:02:00 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
- ★★★ In 2004 Penguin's lawyers decided the character Alaska quoted too much of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem; fair use allowed only two lines and John couldn't afford to pay the estate. — 00:02:06 · Looking for Alaska (novel), Penguin Books
00:02:42 — Copyright privileges those with money; the bills would increase that inequality without stopping piracy; SOPA would make the internet a little worse
- ★★★ John argues copyright law currently privileges people like 2011 John, who can pay an estate $500 or so, and punishes people like 2004 John, who could not. — 00:02:42 · economic inequality
- ★★★ John says the legislation before Congress would increase that inequality: YouTube, Google and Tumblr can afford lawyers against Viacom, he can't, and it won't stop already-illegal wholesale piracy. — 00:02:54 · United States Congress, YouTube, Google, Tumblr, economic inequality
- ★★★ Disagreeing with the alarmists, John suspects SOPA would only make the internet a little worse, but says the internet needs to be better and SOPA doesn't push that way. (hedged) — 00:03:09
00:03:24 — 'Man bra' callback; continue the conversation in comments; sign-off
- ★ John invites Nerdfighters to continue the conversation in the comments. — 00:03:26 · Nerdfighteria
Humor (significant)
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John opens chanting 'I'm a man, I'm a zebra' and slides into the next rhyme. — 00:00:00
“I'm a man bra. Oh wait, that's something else.”
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Listing what came before the conference, John recalls his hotel bath. — 00:00:18
“and before a bath so luxurious and wasteful that it made me wonder whether luxurious and wasteful are synonyms”
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After praising Kate Rudd for sounding exactly like Hazel, John describes his own narration of the teenage narrator. — 00:00:53
“I sound like a thirty four year old man making for some awkward moments”
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John agrees with Hank that the bills before Congress are a steaming hot slice of crazy. — 00:01:27
“which is now apparently a vegetable”
Threads in this video
- told · John at an English teachers' conference in Chicago (2011) — John reports from a crowded English teachers' conference in Chicago, listing what came before: a luxurious bath, Henry and a stroller in an elevator, the Bean, a nerdfighter hostess, traffic. (00:00:05)
- milestone · The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011) — John has narrated The Fault in Our Stars at Brilliance Audio; there will be two audiobooks, Kate Rudd's (the real one, sold everywhere) and John's (only in a limited-edition DFTBA box set). (00:00:35)
- refine · Should ideas be ownable, and is copyright law working? — John says copyright works when people negotiate what's fair, but fair use is ill-defined and chilling, current law favours those who can pay, and the bills before Congress would widen that gap. (00:02:42) → refers to Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████
- told · Penguin's lawyers cut a Millay quotation from Looking for Alaska under fair use (2004) — John recounts how in 2004 Penguin's lawyers limited Alaska's quotation of a Millay poem to two lines under fair use, as he couldn't afford to pay the estate. (00:02:06)
- predicted · John: if SOPA passes, the internet will only get a little worse (2011) — John predicts that if SOPA passed it would only make the internet a little bit worse. (00:03:13)
- result reported · John asks Nerdfighters whether he should read the audiobook of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — There will be two audiobooks of The Fault in Our Stars: the real one narrated by Kate Rudd, available everywhere, and John's, only in a physical limited-edition box set from DFTBA. (00:00:41)
- callback · John reading his new novel's audiobook in a young woman's voice: 'And then I took off my bra' (2011) — John says Kate Rudd sounds exactly like Hazel and her recording is brilliant, while he sounds like a 34-year-old man, which makes for awkward moments. (00:00:49)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- John asks Nerdfighters whether he should read the audiobook of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — reported back; last: result reported, 2011-11-21
- John: if SOPA passes, the internet will only get a little worse (2011) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2011-11-21
- The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011) — completed; last: looked back, 2026-09-22
Mentioned
Central: Brilliance Audio · copyright · fair use · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Stop Online Piracy Act · The Fault in Our Stars
Also: People: Edna St. Vincent Millay · Henry Green
Works: poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay quoted in Looking for Alaska · Zombicorns
Organizations: Creative Commons · Google · Penguin Books · Tumblr · United States Congress · Viacom · YouTube
Concepts: chilling effect · economic inequality · intellectual property
Places: Chicago (city) · Cloud Gate
Events: English teachers' conference (Chicago)
Characters: Alaska Young · Hazel Grace Lancaster
Only in the description or credits: DFTBA Records · Kate Rudd · PROTECT IP Act
Also centred on copyright: August 31: Copyright and Airports · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ · On the Ownership of Ideas · Across Three Continents: A Tale of Tumblr, Copyright, and Excellent Posters · Who Owns a Monkey's Selfie? And a Song About Meningitis! · The Bizarre State of Copyright
Also centred on fair use: Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ · The Bizarre State of Copyright
Also centred on Stop Online Piracy Act: Thoughts on SOPA From New Orleans
Replies to
- answers · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — “So Hank in your last video you talked about copyright and intellectual property”
Later videos replying to this one
- 2011-11-25 · Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars (John) — continues (open on John points viewers to the TFiOS box set with his own audiobook reading (2011)) — John says the only way to hear him read the whole book is the special box set from his last video, made possible by Brilliance Audio; link in the doobly-doo. (00:22:54)