Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
So we should burn all the old books just so that new authors don't have to compete with the old books? If your books can't compete with public domain books, then write better books. Build a better mousetrap. No one is guaranteed a competition free marketplace. Plenty of new books sell quite well. There are many musicians making a living. There's still an awful lot of live music out there.
|
I am certainly not recommending burning old books so that there is less competition. I am pointing out my opinion that the presence of copyright plays an important role in increasing the value of new books.
In terms of producing better books, one of the difficulties is that if the value of a work is driven so low, it is not economical to produce a better work.
On the topic of musicians, although there are many musicians making a living today, there are many fewer than there were one hundred years ago, and back then the population was much smaller.
SteveEisenberg commented that the new books don't really compete with the old ones. To some extent I agree. This is why I mentioned competition spurring the change in genres a few posts back. However, increasingly people are finding old content that is relevant to their lives. This is evident in the popularity of jazz, classic movies, etc. Such content is readily available thanks to the electronic age. The new culture embraces content regardless of age. Books and movies increasingly make reference to old works. Family Guy is a case in point.