Team Negative One is responsible for unearthing a treasure of untold value: a restored 35mm print of the 1977 version of Star Wars. They’ve spent the last several years cleaning it up, and the whole film is now available online. Streaming the film is easy, but also illegal.

If there was ever a case to be made for watching illegally pirated movies, surely this is it. It’s the original Star Wars for god’s sake. The Holy Grail of sci-fi fans for decades. Before even the episode title was attached (Episode IV: A New Hope was added in 1981). What if this really is our only chance to see the movie as it was intended to be seen in its original form?

George Lucas has always mettled with his movies, and he has made it clear that altered versions of the Trilogy are the definitive versions. As such, access to the pre-Special Edition Star Wars films would dilute the auteur control he maintains over his artwork. He even claimed at one point that the original Star Wars “doesn’t exist anymore.” The problem with Lucas’ case is two fold. First, his tinkering made these films worse. And second, destroying our cinematic history is unconscionable. A point he agreed with passionately prior to his obsession with destroying Star Wars.

Here’s Lucas on that very point, in 1988:

People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society.

Presumably his position on keeping the history of cinema intact evolved over the years.

Nevertheless, Lucas’ decades long effort to keep high-quality original prints of pre-Special Edition Star Wars films away the viewing public has come to an end.

That’s what we’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? Finally. Now, you’re not going to like this, but please don’t watch it.

Many outlets-IndieWire, io9, Boing Boing-have commented on the illegality of this Star Wars print, and declared they won’t be providing a link to where readers can access Team Negative One’s film.

Noble, but not enough.

So I’ll go ahead and say: if you love the movies or value the work of artists, please don’t watch Team Negative One’s Star Wars. It may not matter to folks on the internet that 20th Century Fox owns the rights to the Star Wars films, especially given the gobs of money that Star Wars has made over the past 40 years. But it should.

Most artists do not work for free, and having internet access doesn’t give you a right to free art. Just as you should not steal the work of bakers, or the clothes you want but cannot afford, so it is with digital art. You should not, given any other option, steal the work of artists. Even if they frustrate you with their auteur shenanigans.

The truth is that 1977 version of Star Wars is available commercially. I just watched it. Did it look great? No. But such is life. That’s not a license to steal.

I recognize that this is an unpopular argument. Just ask Matt Zoller Seitz. Seitz has made the anti-piracy argument several times on twitter and finds himself continually lambasted by the free-access internet folks time and time again.

There’s no absolutism here. Copyright law is vast and complicated and open to interpretation (as anyone who has considered fair use knows). It’s very possible that a case for pirating a long-lost piece of art can be made successfully. But Team Negative One’s Star Wars is not it. This is a movie that was stolen, and made available to the public for free. That’s not a justification for watching a higher quality version of movie that you can watch right now.

So what should you do if you want to watch? Just keep waiting. Fox’s rights end in 2020, and Disney will have full control of the films. Surely one of those companies will recognize the financial value in the originals released to the public. And if they don’t, well, you’ve made it this long.

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