*Edit (8/1/2022 12:08am EST):
Wix strikes again. Ugh. Unfortunately, my webhost is being a complete pain in the ass about the 50% discount I just tried to award all new and existing customers for the month of August. Thankfully, I am able to create a coupon code though! So in order to take advantage of the discount, you will have to use the code AUG50 when signing up and renewing memberships. I'm sorry for any inconvenience. This is not the way I wanted to do it, but thankfully there is a work around. Please let me know if you have any issues.
It goes without saying that I have been less than active here on MB and in general. Not due to a lack of content to post (actually quite the opposite), but because things in my life outside of the bondage world have been rather…ugh.
I started a new position at my job recently, and while it is somewhat similar to my previous position, there are a number of differences that require training, studying, testing and also different qualifications and certifications that need to be acquired. Needless to say, this is extremely demanding and time consuming.
Another piece of the puzzle is that we recently found out that a close, immediate family member of mine has been diagnosed with a seemingly aggressive and uncertain form of cancer. While I don’t really want to go into much more detail about this, just understand that this is a stressful and concerning time due to this.
On top of all this, I recently discovered that a plethora of my content is being pirated by unscrupulous individuals who apparently think it’s okay to take my hard work and share it with the world without my consent. Of course, these are likely the same kind of people who think it’s okay to take the hard work of Jim Weathers, Dominic Wolfe, Michael Keye and so many other amazing producers and share it with the world without their consent.
While I’ve always known this has been a concern with the great people of our community, I never really thought it could happen to me. Why? Because I always felt my work was on a different spectrum compared to those great producers. Not that my work is better, quite the opposite really. As proud as I am of my work, I still prefer to see real girls bound in real bondage predicaments. And I always figured everyone else felt that way too. Would you rather see Ashley Lane bound and gagged in tight rope or a somewhat cartoony character of my bound in a somewhat fake looking straitjacket? I would choose Ashley Lane any day of the week.
I know that there are some people who enjoy my work, but I never really thought it was good enough for people to really be that interested in it. In other words, if the demand isn’t there, why would people even spend the time to pirate it? I guess that shows my naivety with the whole thing. One of the things that frustrated me the most when finding these pirated images of mine was that one of the people who used to be very present and active on my site was on there ‘liking’ all of those stolen images. Someone who I thought was a real fan and someone who enjoyed my work and wanted to support me genuinely. I honestly felt betrayed and disheartened when I saw this username. Someone who used to like a lot of my posts, but now seems to have randomly disappeared from the site (likely because they found a way to steal my content, rather than support the artist and the original source).
It’s probably difficult to understand for those who aren’t creative, but this is extremely deflating and demoralizing. It’s even more frustrating when these sites allowing thieves to steal content make it so simple for the stolen content to be posted, but require so many hoops for us as the creators to jump through to prove this is our content. Why does the poster not have to prove it is their content from the beginning? I’ve had several interactions with these sites and I typically receive a message that basically says “Yeah, we don’t really believe this is your content” but in a ‘nicer’ more “professional” text. I shouldn’t have to take screenshots of my website, the program I use to create this content or my hard drive in order to prove this is my content. The thief (poster) should have to do this immediately prior to it being posted. You would think that people in this day and age would understand how economics work. Content takes time, effort and costs money to create. There are a number of expenses that come along with creating this kind of content. By posting my content to a website for others to view for free, you are not only stealing from me, but you are diminishing my ability to create new content with new props and characters. This is just how things work. Nothing new here. A brand new state of the art Smart TV costs money to make. It costs money for the engineers to design the circuits, for the workers to assemble the product, for the shipping company to deliver it to the store or your home. You don’t just walk into your favorite electronics store, grab a TV off the shelf and walk out the door without paying for it. I would like to think that most people know there needs to be an exchange of currency for goods. But I guess the kind of nitwits who aren’t bright enough to realize that what they think is harmless, is enough to collapse a creator. If you really want to keep stealing and posting other people’s content, just know that you are doing nothing but destroying this industry. You are taking what you claim to be a fan of and eating away at it until there will be nothing left. I think it’s well documented that several bondage producers have had to hang up the ropes because piracy was just killing their business. While I’ve never asked him, I’m convinced that Kevin Leonard of ‘Straitjacketed.com’ ultimately stopped posting and eventually closed down his site due to the piracy epidemic. I’ve spoken with many bondage producers who have brought forth their concerns with this growing disease that plagues our great community. Bondage producer Dave Simpson ultimately took his own life because of the effects that piracy had on his site and business. It’s not just one post here and a download there. This is a real problem and I really hope my words can help change some people’s minds about this issue.
While money is not the reason I do this, it is required in order to cover costs and overhead. Plus, it takes A LOT of time to create just one image that I post here on the site. If I can complete a single image from start to finish in under 10 hours, I’d be shocked and pretty satisfied. Having blatant disregard for my time, effort and courtesy is an insulting slap in the face. While I’m not a religious person, I do believe in some form of karma. Those of you stealing and pirating my content know who you are. I hope you take a long, deep look at yourself and contemplate whether or not this is all worth it to you. Most of us are NOT big businesses that have tons of capital that can be spent on whatever expense we want. We are people just like yourself. We are your friends and neighbors. The people who work in the restaurants you eat at or the movie theaters you visit. We have rent, loan payments and expenses just like everyone else.
A few years ago, the company that I work for purchased a struggling company of the same type and absorbed them into our platform. Needless to say, there was a bit of hostility from the employees of the company that we absorbed to those of us on the “lower levels” of the company that I work for (like it was our idea to buy them out). While the main city in which this company operates is about 3 and a half hours away from where I live, we still had to talk to a lot of these people on the phone on a daily basis to perform our daily operations. Most of us were met with rude, snide remarks and an unwillingness to cooperate, simply because we were nothing but a voice on the phone, and an employee of the parent company. As some of you might recall, back in late October of 2021, I was chosen to be part of a group to be sent on a bit of a business trip to this city to meet with a lot of the people whom we were speaking with on the phone on a daily basis. Some of these guys I would speak with 15 or 20 times a day, so it felt like we were working closely together, even though there was always a bit of hostility in dealing with them and we were a couple hundred miles apart. The first day that we were able to meet a large group of these individuals, we were immediately greeted with a barrage of apologies and sympathetic gestures. Things like “Hey, sorry we are such assholes to you guys on the phones. You know, we’re just frustrated with how the company handled everything. It’s not your fault and we take it out on you guys.” Why such an immediate 180? Because now we weren’t just voices on the phone. We were real people, with faces and personalities. After that day we talked to a few of the employees who stayed down at the main office and who didn’t go on the trip and they each would say “What’s going on up there? I just talked to ‘such and such’ today and he wasn’t a complete asshole like he always is. You guys must really be making an impact. Haha.” But the truth was, we weren’t doing anything but meeting these guys in person and shaking their hands face to face. Ever since, the culture has been much better and we can finally say that we are functioning as a team rather than two entities. The point of this long diversion? If you met me in person, if you met Michael Keye in person, if you met Jim Weathers, Steve Villa, Rachel Adams or Kendra James in person, do you think you would still feel the impulse to pirate and steal our hard work?
I know that I can’t let one or two bad apples cloud my judgment for the entirety of my fans and supporters. The frustrating thing is not knowing exactly who the culprits are (although I was able to find one of them and block them from MB). But I can’t let that deter me from continuing forward with my vision. I know so many of you are genuine supporters and really enjoy the work that I have created. So, after much contemplation and reflection, I’ve decided that it’s not fair to make the genuine supporters suffer because a few assholes want to steal my work. I want to make it very clear it wasn’t my intention to make anyone wait for new updates, but that was ultimately the end result. I was basically sulking in a depressive state when thinking about posting new content, but no more. I apologize wholeheartedly to those who have supported me and stuck through the good and the bad with me. I know things aren’t perfect here at the website, but I am only human, and just one man. Things often come up outside of this aspect of my life that unfortunately take priority and must be addressed right away. I’ve said it several times before, but one of the biggest restrictions with running this website is the fact that I can’t schedule things to post. If I had that ability, things would be much more consistent and up to today’s standards for a website. If you’re so inclined, I encourage you to send a message, email or help ticket to Wix.com requesting they implement this very standard tool. I’ve said it a thousand times to them, but I typically just get the “Yeah, we heard you” response. I figure, the more people that say it, the more they might be inclined to actually do something about it. Why Wix doesn’t offer this fundamental and basic feature in 2022, well that’s something I’ve fought with them about since the inception of this website and will never understand, but anyway, I digress.
All this brings me to one of the main points with this post. I feel really bad about the absence of updates in the past month. So, I’ve decided to offer a special sale of 50% off all tiers at MartyrBondage.com to all new and existing memberships throughout the month of August! That’s right. Throughout August ‘Clad Cuties’ is $1, ‘Detained Damsels’ is $2.50, ‘Strict Sirens’ is $5 and ‘Trussed Tales’ is ONLY $10!! There is one caveat, this sale is only available on MartyrBondage.com. My other platforms will not allow me to change pricing once members have subscribed, (which in a way I get, but at the same time, it creates issues when I want to do things like this).
So just to reiterate, starting August 1st, at 12:00:00 am EST, all tier levels at MartyrBondage.com will be 50% off until August 31st, 11:59:59 pm EST!!
Thank you all (except for the assholes pirating my content) for your patience and understanding through this rather difficult patch in my life. I get such a great feeling when I see comments, likes and memberships. You truly brighten my day and my life. Thank you all so much!
Marty
