The Yes Men, a culture jamming activist duo, have released their latest film on BitTorrent, in part to avoid paying for E&O insurance.
The Yes Men pose as corporations or governmental organizations they believe are hypocritical or enacting harmful policies. The Yes Men deliver speeches, send out press releases and set up websites to reverse the organization's official position.
Related: Read "Learn about the risks and coverages at Lollapalooza."
Documentary filmmakers are often required to buy E&O insurance if they can't verify that every detail in the fore or background of every shot is free of copyright infringement. The E&O requirement is a huge hurdle for independent filmmakers.
Releasing the film on BitTorrent may have paid off: The film, "The Yes Men Fix the World"landed at number six in TorrentFreak's list of the top 10 films downloaded on BitTorrent last week.
E&O insurance is not the only legal hurdle for this movie. In the film, The Yes Men pretend to hold a press conference using the name and logo of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announcing a reversal of the organization's position on climate change. The Chamber sued The Yes Men for unlawfully using its trademark and intellectual property for commercial gain--which includes the sale of DVDs.
