Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Well-said, Happ. Yes, this is an economics issue... economics is the exact reason copyright was invented... and any changes or revisions to copyright law will always be intended to maximize its economic potential, not to weaken it. After all, we are talking about things that people do not have to buy or use to survive, they are life-optional products. There is no logical reason to deny their creators the opportunity to profit, as long as the public has the choice to simply not buy.
True: Movie-makers spend millions on a movie, expecting it to make it back in box-office sales; the bigger the budget, the bigger the effort to get you to the theatre to see it. But as more people enjoy movies at home and stop going to the theatres, we can expect that movies will begin to drop in price as they cannot have their costs recouped in theatre sales... or that DVD prices will increase to make up the difference. The DVD ads will make up for the rest of the cost.
I agree, ad-subsidization is the future of mass-market e-book sales, either directly attached to the e-book, or displayed in the sales portals. Concerns about said ads being "obtrusive" are, I think, justified, but people have already demonstrated that they will put up with a lot for cheap and free content.
Think of the last DVD you bought that forced you to watch at least 1 preview or ad before allowing you to go to the main content... how many people take those DVDs back to the store, or publicly malign the sellers, because of it? And how many just watch the previews?
No, ads are rarely popular. Neither are flu shots. But they provide a service with very small down-sides, so they will always be with us.
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Tell me that the next time some publisher sells 40,000 copies of a paperback and somehow manages to calculate the author (who may well have received $5,000 in advance money) still owes far too much to receive any royalties.
But then, when you figure that a hefty chunk of every book's price goes to the retail stores or the distributors, it's no wonder publishers are loathe to shell out a higher percentage to the average author.
It's authors what do all the perspiration and birthing and they're the most aggrieved in the whole 'piracy' chain.
Derek