Re: public domain copyright -- public domain Internet

On Thu, Mar 23, 2000, Eric Eldred <eldred[_at_]eldritchpress.org> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Mar 22, 2000, Sylvie Fodor <s.fodor[_at_]akg.de> wrote:
> >
> > Copyright (or authors' rights in Europe -- this is not quite the
> > same) is the only way that have been found up to now to have artists
> > make a living -- also after their death (for their heirs/ relatives)
> > if the work was not that famous while they were living.
>
> I wonder how those artists, authors, and inventors
> were able to make a living while creating their
> works for so many centuries without the benefit
> of copyright then?

Through the patronage of the rich and powerful.

> I wonder how the Internet, Linux, GNU, and so on,
> can ever be popular if the creators can't charge
> users and make a living?

Most people who use and develop open-source software have a day job and need the improvements in order to do their day job.

> I don't want to argue the benefits of copyright -- I
> do think copyright is important -- and I don't want
> to see copyright law replaced by encryption and
> licensing.
>
> But I don't want anyone to exaggerate the role of
> copyright. Today the problem is not so much that
> authors are not compensated, but that publishers
> are attempting to keep all the compensation and
> control, even at the expense of new authors.

Look to the economics of supply and demand in the distribution channels, not copyright law (which generally gives no rights to publishers) for the causes of the problems you perceive.

Edward Barrow
edward[_at_]plato32.demon.co.uk Received on Fri Mar 24 2000 - 18:47:09 GMT