Are Libraries and Home VCRs Next?
Movie producers and their associates get paid when the movies play in theaters, when they are aired on commercial and cable TV, when they are sold on DVD, when the sound track is broadcast on radio, when shows are rerun, and when associated toys and products are produced. How many times do you need to get paid for one effort? I worked 20 years as a secretary. I was paid for the hours I put in and the product I produced--much of which, believe it or not took a great deal of creativity to accomplish. My compensation was the gratitude (sometimes) of my boss and a one time hourly salary. Anonymity was also a side benefit of that occupation.
Painters create a work of art and sell it once, the buyers don't pay them residuals for each time someone looks at the painting. Writers write works of art and are paid for the thousands (hopefully) of copies that are sold. But once I buy the book, I don't pay residuals each time I lend it to a friend or each time I reread it. Libraries assemble collections of books, DVDs and audio recordings. Imagine the loss to people who can't afford to go out and buy books if they were not able to check them out at their local libraries. I used to rent movies at my library, but I can't get out and around like I used to. TV-Links was a Godsend to me. I can't afford the $50 a month the cable company demands. If I could I wouldn't spend it. There are very few shows worth watching and they are repeated ad nauseum. TV-Links gave me the opportunity to watch old shows I haven't been able to enjoy in years and new, some foreign ones that I never knew existed. I don't personally buy DVDs but when I let my family know what shows I like, they show up under my Christmas tree.
I especially liked being able to watch British TV movies and shows. I even got to see some Korean ones on TV-Links. The only British shows I have access to now are 20 years old on Public Broadcasting and BBC News. I think our fat cat movie industry does a good job of keeping foreign films and TV shows out of our country. There are foreign TV networks, but their shows are seldom subtitled in English. TV-Links shows were either English or English subtitled, so I could enjoy them.
I think TV-Links was like a library. I could go to the site and check out a movie or show from somewhere on the vast internet. If TV-Links isn't providing the service for English speaking people, someone else somewhere else in the world will provide the service, but you won't be able to see the movie for all the foreign subtitles on the screen. TV-Links promoted the shows and movies it indexed by bringing them to a wider audience (the world).
It seems to me that a work of art, a book, a painting, a photo or a movie becomes a cultural artifact once it is past its original dissemination event. The original dissemination event should be the sum total of the compensation garnered by its producers. Cultural compensation could follow from further demands for follow-up works by the same producers or artists. But to be continually paying someone for a single effort or contribution to society seems counter-intuitive and non-sensical to me.
We don't pay a royalty every time we sing Happy Birthday or Amazing Grace. Papparazzi don't pay royalties for the images of stars or celebrities they capture. The estate of the model for the Mona Lisa isn't sucking up residuals from the museum it is displayed in. TV shows once they've been broadcast and movies once they've been originally circulated become part of the fabric of their culture. Now if someone somewhere is making money off of redistributing these cultural artifacts, they should share the profits with the producers.
By making criminals of their fellow countrymen RIAA and FACT are alienating themselves from their constituency/customers. This may account somewhat for the popularity of sites like You Tube. People are making their own entertainment and discovering the artistic talent of foreign artists. Maybe the English speaking consumer will subcontract his entertainment needs out to India and leave US and UK money mongers completely out of the picture.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
