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Originally Posted by spindlegirl
Has anyone ever tried copyright until a certain ceiling of dollars has been earned vs the passage of time? Say, after 100K has been profited to the author...
That way, someone who had slower success still stands a chance of earning as much as someone who is big name for doing the same amount of work (maybe even more than) as the big author who everyone grabs their novel sight unseen? Or if someone's novel isn't just that great, or not trendy, then they can receive that money when it does "hit".
I knew someone who wrote knitting patterns - sort of - that way. They charged a fee for a pattern until they had earned back in time what they had put into it and profited... then they made it free (while not yet public domain).
Probably a silly idea, but it's a way to encourage earning income... No different than if I build a house, it would earn me a wage, but then to earn more i'd have to build another house...
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Many authors do something similar in that they lower the price of a given work after it has sold a significant amount. I believe we'll see even more of this now that distribution (and cost of) is not such a problem. Authors/publishers don't have the costs of reprinting--they can make a book POD and they can leave the ebook form around. This gives us a lot more flexibility with future pricing, giveaways and whatnot.
It also means that authors can control and give away books if they so desire. But for those who want to continue to charge, for whatever reason, have the freedom to so do.