Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
It obviously would be good for readers, but it would destroy jobs. Destroy those jobs that are now supported through sales of the items that would lose protection. Disney is a perfect example. What jobs would be created if their early works were available for free? The only jobs that would create are perhaps at disk burning factories that would knock out $1 DVDs of the movies and could now also sell to the US.
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Disney would have to employ creative people to make NEW works, instead of relying on endless sales of old ones.
Also, they'd be free to release "authorized" versions with the official Disney stamp--are parents going to pay $15/dvd for that one, or $3 for the version from some company they've never heard of that might be dubbing their own soundtrack on top of it?
This would allow at least 50 years to profit without unwanted competition from any given work. After that, the original company would have to compete with the open market to make a profit--would have to offer something that other people don't, like better formatting, or extra features.
Disney's older movies are certainly making them a lot of *money*, but I'm not sure they're supporting a lot of *jobs.* If Disney couldn't monopolize profits on their WWII and earlier works, how many jobs would be lost?