Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Guess what? The world isn't Sesame Street. There isn't enough of everything to go around. Sharing doesn't work when there are too many people, and not enough supplies.
|
No, but there is enough of some things. Like data, which can be copied at practically zero costs. So the only scarcity in that area is artificially introduced.
There are people in the world who want to get money for their creations. There are people who will create and share for free, using Creative Commons for example. Every year there is more and more creators around, and our ability to find good creations in the sea of bad ones is growing.
If this continues, even if nothing is done to change current laws, there will come a time when for almost all creations that aren't free there will be similar or better free alternatives available. Even assumming no copyright violation, just old public domain works and new creative commons ones. So only hardcore fans of the author will buy anything, and at some point no one will even look at paid works anymore. (Of course, there will be Dan Browns of the future with hardcore fans, but there'll be less of them than paper-published authors now). It will be more and more probable that next top bestseller comes from someone that gives it away for free.
The only way to stop this I see in going to great lengths to prohibit creating for free, extending the meaning of derivative works, length of copyright terms, taking many authors of works that would in the future be considered derivative to court and winning enough cases/bankrupting enough of them that people will be afraid to create. Attacking Internet forums where people gather and discuss and form communities which cause people to want to create. Making available public domain books illegal to possess. Only then authors will be able to get paid for their works - by removing competition.
Otherwise, what will it matter to people if you spent a year writing a book? What value is it to them, when it's just another drop in a bottomless sea? There will be enough trouble in getting them to choose your work at all.
Miracle of eradicating all piracy wouldn't change the outcome, it would just delay it.