[Cdn-DMCA] Creators Connecting

[Chris Brand]

>  We have had many years of mega-publishers lobbying for something called
>"Intellectual Property", based on the assumptions that ideas should be
>paid for in the same way that Industrial manufactured goods should be.  
>While us Open-Source folks can recognize that "Software Manufacturing"  
>(selling licenses) is not the only way to make money with software, other 
>creators haven't had that obvious example in front of them  ---- yet.
>
>  We need to help make that connection, and to encourage people to think 
>of different business models.   My "Private copying is advertising" is 
>aimed squarely at the Entertainment industries where this is more 
>obviously true - money is primarily made in the box office, and people 
>will purchase media with entertainment on it even if they can copy it.
>
>  It's not the identical business model for other types of works.  The 
>Open Source type model (survive on Moral rights, sell the service of 
>"making the computer work" rather than software as a product) doesn't 
>translate trivially to all current types of works.

I've been thinking about this, and I agree that it's important. Here's
what I've come up with so far :
Musicians - concerts (don't most musicians make more money from concerts
than from CD sales now ?), street performer protocol. I don't feel that
radio and the blank media levy are good examples.
Video - broadcast TV is the best example (the adverts pay for the content).
Note that VCRs didn't hurt the movie studios (in fact, quite the opposite)
Authors, photos - the web (people write stuff and take photos and put
it on the web all the time. Of course, not many are making any money doing so.)
Also for all of the above - commissions. This is the way most creators made
a living before copyright was invented. A lot of authors get a lot of commission
work today. I guess the business model would be to put samples of your writing
on the web and advertise that you are happy to "write to order".
It's also worth noting that there's probably more value in the "extra stuff"
than in the content for music especially - burning a copy of a CD is not the
same as owning the CD. You don't get the sleeve notes, art on the CD itself,
etc and people like these things.

Chris
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