On Copyright
I just finished reading an article on copyright by the always insightful Dare Obasanjo. I have many friends in the film and music businesses and I often end up trying to explain my thoughts on the issue. Here’s what I think…
I guess I have two issues, not with copyright per se (I am a software developer after all), but with the current law in the United States and with the majority of the industry of professional content creation.
The first issue Dare mentioned. The current term of copyright protection is just way too long. As I understand it, copyright law is meant to act as an incentive to creators to maximize the public good that comes from the creation of intellectual property. This is a straight up issue with the power of corporate lobbies to influence legislation. No consumer or individual producer of content (that I know of) believes that these terms are reasonable.
My second issue is related to one Dare mentioned. Many people argue that piracy of works by major labels/studios is OK because the artists themselves receive only a small cut of the total take. I have friends in the film and music businesses and I am well aware of the up front costs these folks gamble in order to bring a new act/film to the masses. Production and promotion costs are huge and those companies are quite reasonable to expect a return on those investments. Unfortunately these businesses, in many cases, still build their budgets around a model where distribution remains the largest line item - and consumers continue to pay for it. We now live in a world where distribution costs ought to be much lower. In a world of digital distribution, the risk of a first pressing and the cost to ship and stock CD’s/DVD’s in brick-and-mortar stores ought to be less of an issue. We are in a time of transition and if the major labels/studios cannot adapt the consumer will be more than happy to make them irrelevant.
If iTunes has taught us anything it is that most folks are more than happy to pay for content if you make it convenient and at a reasonable price.
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