Shia LaBeouf is a Thief

Bizarre. From most of the interviews I've seen with him LaBeouf seems reasonably switched on - what in god's name made him think he could get away with it?
 
Even the media refrains from calling someone a thief until proven guilty. One never knows with these stories. Perhaps true as it is given in the article. But I'd wait to hear more from just Wired magazine before making a judgement.
 
Plagiarism creates a lasting stain that sometimes comes to define you. I guess it has to happen once in a while to keep the rest of us in check. Sad.
 
It's fascinating and relevant that the exposure only happened when the short went ONLINE. It was playing at Cannes and major film festivals for two years... holy. Just goes to show you the far reach of online distribution. And it's pretty pithy what SOTW says - to paraphrase - most often the only reward for making a short is recognition. And to have that taken away from you is just as bad as monetary theft.

Everyone borrows and "steals" in some way from other films and media, but yeah, wow. Shia, keep off the drugs.

Chris Messineo said:
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/12/17/an-update-on-howardcantour-com/

Shia admitted what he did. It's still despicable, but at least he came clean - not like he had much choice.
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Holy hell. He even plagiarized his response to SOTW's question on where he got the inspiration for the film.

LaBeouf's words to SOTW about the inspiration for the film: http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/12/16/howardcantour-com/

I know something about the gulf between critical acclaim and blockbuster business. I have been crushed by critics (especially during my Transformers run), and in trying to come to terms with my feelings about critics, I needed to understand them. As I tried to empathize with the sort of man who might earn a living taking potshots at me and the people I’ve worked with, a small script developed.
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Kyle Buchanan's May 2012 review of the film: http://www.vulture.com/2012/05/shia-labeouf-gets-inside-a-critic-at-cannes.html

LaBeouf would know something about the gulf between critical acclaim and blockbuster business — he's made three Transformers movies, after all. But his short isn't an attempt to slag on critics, not really: Instead, he tries to empathize with the sort of man who might earn a living taking potshots at the actor.
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What the hell is this guy on?
 
His music video (I think for Kid Kudi) was a blatant rip of Man Bites Dog.

EDIT: Film was called Maniac.
 
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what in god's name made him think he could get away with it?
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Clearly a LaBeouf/Clowes publicity stunt brought on by the death of big budget narrative film and the rise of iPhone cameras.
 


http://www.newser.com/story/179334/shia-labeouf-plagiarizes-apology-for-plagiarizing.html


How NOT to apologize when caught with your hands in the cookie jar.



  • LaBeouf's words: "Copying isn’t particularly creative work. Being inspired by someone else’s idea to produce something new and different IS creative work."



4-year-old entry on Yahoo Answers ...



  • Yahoo! Answers words by user Lili: "Merely copying isn’t particularly creative work, though it’s useful as training and practice. Being inspired by someone else’s idea to produce something new and different IS creative work."



AW
 
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I have to say that this is getting funnier & funnier. And sadder & sadder.

BTW, When I walked my dog tonight I noticed Shia LaBeouf following behind us, sniffing the same trees and pissing & crapping at the same spots as my dog. I draw the line at picking up after him.
 
What I don't understand is why not just purchase the film rights to the original comic book story? Or do the film just as a sort of 'fan film' kind of thing with the comic's title and proper credit to the original author?

LaBeouf likely has the money to do the first option. If all he was doing was making a short film for the fun and experience of it, or to start building a producer/director reel to later transition to directing, then just make it under the pretense of non-profit adaptation. By crediting the author of the comic, Shia's short film would actually get attention from fans of Daniel Clowes.

Otherwise it is like someone going and making a Star Wars fan film, but then changing all the names/terminology from Star Wars while putting the film out there and stating that it is an original science fiction/fantasy work. It would be like having characters dueling with light sabers but calling the weapon a light blade. The Millennium Falcon becomes the Centurion Eagle or something along those lines.

Actually, what LaBeouf has done is worse, since my example of a hypothetical Star Wars fan film would likely be built upon a different plot than that of the previous films in the franchise.
 
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I feel like the dude's just trolling at this point. Kinda like when Daniel Radcliffe wore the same outfit 30 days in a row just to f--k with the paparazzi.
 
Nektonic said:
What I don't understand is why not just purchase the film rights to the original comic book story?
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I'm gonna guess that he made a business decision to deal with the author after rather than before for specific reasons. If LaBeouf approached the author up front and went through the normal process of optioning/licensing the story, it might have cost him a lot of dough when at that point he had no real idea if the finished film would even be a success. And I doubt that he'd end up paying more after, once the film ran its course, not to mention - the shloads of free publicity he's getting. I'd probably never, ever, have heard of the film if not for the recent news of his plagiarism.
 
I thought about Googling him, but decided not to bother. I have no idea who he is, and don't really care. The cynic in me suspects spin and a calculated raising of his profile, world wide. what people should really be doing is talking to the creative who actually did it first, and not giving this annoying thief any more exposure. It would be better to club together to get the original writer's legal team into action, because he's the damaged one, not this idiot.
 
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