Net Working

In “Can Studios Tame the Net?” (May 16), Amy Wallace explores pirating and illegal distribution of films via the Internet. While I’m grateful to be quoted in the article and have my Web site, Mos Eisley Multiplex, mentioned, my comments were taken somewhat out of context.

Wallace defines a term I coined, “genre-splicing,” as “the reediting of existing films to create new ones,” and follows with a quote from myself stating, “It’s ‘Let’s [cross] “Star Wars” with “Cops,” let’s mix it with “South Park” or “Clerks.” ’ And I think that’s neat.”

In fact, genre-splicing refers to merging wildly different genres or styles to create a story. It has nothing to do with editing, much less stealing footage from existing films. As for my quote, I was referring to films my site links to, such as “Troops,” a “Star Wars”/”Cops” spoof comprised of completely new footage.

Copyright laws aside, taking someone else’s material is not a particularly creative exercise. Nonetheless, some filmmakers profiled on my site who did that (for non-commerical use, it must be noted) went on to make some fun, original movies--for example, Curt Markham’s excellent animated shorts “Yobbo” and “Snowfort” were made after his appropriating short, “Beer Wars.”

CLIVE YOUNG

Rockville Centre, N.Y.