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BWinmill · 10-12-2013, 07:54 PM

I would suggest that there are many issues here, some of which go beyond money.

Take the idea of fairness in compensation. Ignore the tabulation of nickles and dimes here, because that's not what I'm talking about here. Rather, look at how people are paid for their work.

Computer programming was brought up several times, which is an interesting comparison because the task is similar to writing yet it is considered work for hire. It doesn't matter whether the programmer is salaried or paid hourly, they are paid for the work rather than based upon the sales of the product. The reality is that most people are paid for the work that they do, may they be providing a service or producing a product. Indeed, many businesses generate revenues in a similar manner: they are paid based upon what they produce, rather than what their product produces. Does it surprise you when people are offended when an author can spend a year working on a book, and their descendents can earn revenue from it decades after the author died?

There are other things to consider too. I know that a lot of people want writing to fall into the public domain because they can get it for free. On the other hand, that is a rather recent phenomena. Thirty years ago, people would only have access to a work in the public domain if they paid for it. Very few books were digitized, and even photocopying took a considerable investment in time and physical resources. Clearly there were motivations other than money behind having books move into the public domain. I would suggest that it was also an incentive to keep important books in print, so that they could survive indefinitely. Now this is a notion that is easily overlooked these days because we see digital media as being permenant. After all, the cost of reproducing and storing it is minimal. It is also easy to overlook because public domain works have become incredibly accessible. Yet I'm going to suggest that the loss of copywritten works will continue to be an issue, even in the digital age. Amazon may keep ebooks in their catalogue indefinitely, but is Amazon going to be around in 50 or 100 years? On the legal end, what happens if the rights to a book are disputed? It's best for there to be a public domain just so that people can preserve books legally.

10-12-2013, 07:54 PM	#213
BWinmill Nameless Being	I would suggest that there are many issues here, some of which go beyond money. Take the idea of fairness in compensation. Ignore the tabulation of nickles and dimes here, because that's not what I'm talking about here. Rather, look at how people are paid for their work. Computer programming was brought up several times, which is an interesting comparison because the task is similar to writing yet it is considered work for hire. It doesn't matter whether the programmer is salaried or paid hourly, they are paid for the work rather than based upon the sales of the product. The reality is that most people are paid for the work that they do, may they be providing a service or producing a product. Indeed, many businesses generate revenues in a similar manner: they are paid based upon what they produce, rather than what their product produces. Does it surprise you when people are offended when an author can spend a year working on a book, and their descendents can earn revenue from it decades after the author died? There are other things to consider too. I know that a lot of people want writing to fall into the public domain because they can get it for free. On the other hand, that is a rather recent phenomena. Thirty years ago, people would only have access to a work in the public domain if they paid for it. Very few books were digitized, and even photocopying took a considerable investment in time and physical resources. Clearly there were motivations other than money behind having books move into the public domain. I would suggest that it was also an incentive to keep important books in print, so that they could survive indefinitely. Now this is a notion that is easily overlooked these days because we see digital media as being permenant. After all, the cost of reproducing and storing it is minimal. It is also easy to overlook because public domain works have become incredibly accessible. Yet I'm going to suggest that the loss of copywritten works will continue to be an issue, even in the digital age. Amazon may keep ebooks in their catalogue indefinitely, but is Amazon going to be around in 50 or 100 years? On the legal end, what happens if the rights to a book are disputed? It's best for there to be a public domain just so that people can preserve books legally.