Top all-time · #3338
Jonathan Coulton
Personal blog · jonathancoulton.comculture
Jonathan Coulton's personal blog at jonathancoulton.com covers culture. Since 2008, 23 different Hacker News readers have linked it 25 times, most often “Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-03, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (19) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Musician Jonathan Coulton's blog, with posts on his songs, copyright, piracy, royalties and disputes such as the Glee cover. HN readers link it for his views on copyright and the music business.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 19 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2012-01-20
- Glee potentially rips off Jonathan Coulton's Baby Got Back4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2013-01-19
- /2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-04-06
- On Snuggies and Business Models2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-05-23
What Hacker News says?
Exactly the anecdote that I thought of when I saw this project. It also reminds me of Johnathan Coulton's breakout period - his Thing A Week project: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/category/thing-a-week/ Incidentally, this technique works. If you want to learn a creative skill, I'd argue it's about the best way to do it.
Comment linking /category/thing-a-week/
on “I'm learning to code by building 180 websites in 180 days. Today is day 115”Submitted Jonathan Coulton on MegaUpload and piracy as a story · 202 points
HN discussionJonathan Coulton said it well: "I believe in copyright. I benefit from it. I don’t want it to go away. I love that we have laws and people to enforce them. But if I had to give up one thing, if I had to choose between copyright and the wild west, semi-lawless, innovation-fest that is the internet? I’ll take the internet every time." http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2012/01/21/megaupload/
Comment linking /2012/01/21/megaupload/
on “Two things about SOPA/PIPA and then I'll shut up”Submitted Jonathan Coulton strikes back by re-releasing his own song as a story · 193 points
HN discussionRead this: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2012/01/21/megaupload/
Comment linking /2012/01/21/megaupload/
on “Defining Property”Submitted Jonathan Coulton discusses Mandelbrot as a story · 13 points
HN discussionThe song is free on Coulton's website: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdetails/Mandelbrot%20Set
Comment linking /songdetails/Mandelbrot%20Set
on “Benoit Mandelbrot, RIP”Submitted On Snuggies and Business Models as a story · 3 points
HN discussionA song inspired by that video (or possibly a similar one): http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/06/07/im-back-2/
Comment linking /2007/06/07/im-back-2/
on “Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Shelters”Submitted Glee potentially rips off Jonathan Coulton's Baby Got Back as a story · 1 points
HN discussionHe apparently isn't owed royalties, he just wants acknowledgment. http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-...
Comment linking /2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-glee/
on “Jonathan Coulton strikes back by re-releasing his own song”Submitted Emily and David (Jonathan Coulton) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionIt's worth pointing out that Coulton claims that he bought a license to distribute his version . Source: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-...
Comment linking /2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-glee/
on “Jonathan Coulton vs. Glee”"They also got in touch with my peeps to basically say that they’re within their legal rights to do this, and that I should be happy for the exposure (even though they do not credit me, and have not even publicly acknowledged that it’s my version – so you know, it’s kind of SECRET exposure)." Source: Coulton's blog http://www.jonathancoulton.com
Comment linking /
on “Jonathan Coulton vs. Glee”> Where I grew up in England it was the polite version of "well you can just shove it up your arse". Maybe the meaning has moved on That's the meaning I'm familiar with in the US. Jonathan Coulton's song Not About You [also American] makes it quite explicit that those two phrases in particular are synonymous. https://www.jonathancoulton.com/store/
Comment linking /store/
on ““Put that in your pipe and smoke it””Per Coulton himself, he hasn't found any definite proof of it being used in a Glee episode so far, so it's ossible that it;s some overenthusiastic fanboy/girl. http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-...
Comment linking /2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-glee/
on “Did Glee Rip Off a Jonathan Coulton Cover?”> At the same time, I probably wouldn't even notice that famous Beatles recordings were recorded in mono. https://www.jonathancoulton.com/2008/10/10/funny-story/ > What’s amazing to me is that it hasn’t really mattered in any significant way. I’m sure I sweated like crazy over the stereo placement of this or that element during the mixing process, and then I just plastered over all those details with stucco, and tur…
Comment linking /2008/10/10/funny-story/
on “Dr. Quinn official website from 1998, still online”This is a vast oversimplification of the problem. Sharing is not always piracy. People tend to recognize sharing on a small scale (of movies, books, music, etc.) as on balance a good thing, and overall functionally promotional for the artists and makers who are having their work shared. The truth is that the same mechanism exists even on a larger, less personal scale. Unfortunately, the debate has been so polluted b…
Comment linking /2012/01/21/megaupload/
on “Microsoft Funded Startup Aims to Kill BitTorrent Traffic”In addition to Radiohead, I was thinking of Jonathan Coulton. Many of his songs are still available for free, but enough people choose to buy them or to pay to see him perform live that he grossed half a million dollars last year. For instance, here's one of his songs with three options: (1) buy the song, (2) download the mp3 (without charge), (3) send a donation: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/Chiron_Beta_Prim…
Comment linking /wiki/Chiron_Beta_Prime
on “Jonathan's Card Experiments And Outcomes”I don't mean to be a jerk, but this post was lifted wholesale from Jonathan's actual blog: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2011/05/23/on-snuggies-and-bu... And this is the actual link to the post named in the submission: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/05/how-jonathan-coulton-...
Comment linking /2011/05/23/on-snuggies-and-business-models/
on “Jonathan Coulton On how he made 500K as a DIY musician”Woh, I didn't mean to start a text brawl or be vague. My opinion is that royalty checks AREN'T required to keep music alive or vibrant, though possibly the industry aspect DOES require them. I have to hold up Jonathon Coulton here ( http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ ). He loves his fans (who love him back) and doesn't require people to pay just to share his work. BTW, sorry I pissed people off, it wasn't my intention.
Comment linking /
on “So Now Everything Is Google’s Fault”I'm delighted your stopped by! Thanks to you and Weird Al for all of your dastardly animated criminal words. Your Shop Vac cartoon led me to discover Jonathan Coulton's other geeky music, like Code Monkey! He makes his songs available via the Creative Commons license, so people have made some really cool videos to them, including yours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Coulton https://www.jonathancoulton.com/…
Comment linking /
on “Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes (2014)”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ http://www.techcrunch.com/ http://redvsblue.com/home.php http://www.purepwnage.com/ And for music...well maybe this is niche for me, but I like http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ And things like this are really only possible now: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5482774
Comment linking /
on “The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion”Nice, but I personally prefer Jonathan Coulton's Code Monkey song ;-) http://www.jonathancoulton.com/mp3/Code%20Monkey.mp3
Comment linking /mp3/Code%20Monkey.mp3
on “Just One More Hack -- the only song ever about a debugger”It was sarcastic: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2012/01/21/megaupload/
Comment linking /2012/01/21/megaupload/
on “Jonathan Coulton responds to MegaUpload raid”
