<
https://walledculture.org/yet-another-move-to-funnel-money-to-big-copyright-companies-not-struggling-creators/>
"When modern copyright came into existence in 1710, it gave a monopoly to
authors for just 14 years, with the option to extend it for another 14. Today,
in most parts of the world, copyright term is the life of the creator, plus 70
years. That’s typically over a hundred years. The main rationale for this
copyright ratchet – always increasing the duration of the monopoly, never
reducing it – is that creators deserve to receive more benefit from their work.
Of course, when copyright extends beyond their death, that argument is pretty
ridiculous, since they don’t receive any benefit personally.
But the real scandal is not so much that creators’ grandchildren gain these
windfalls – arguably something that grandpa and grandma might approve of. It’s
that most of the benefit of copyright goes to the companies that creative
people need to work with – the publishers, recording companies, film studios,
etc.
One of the cleverest moves by the copyright industry was to claim to speak for
the very people it exploits must brutally. This allows its lobbyists to paint a
refusal to extend copyright, or to make its enforcement harsher, as spitting in
the face of struggling artists. It’s a hard argument to counter, unless you
know the facts: that few creators can make a living from copyright income
alone. Meanwhile, copyright companies prosper mightily: some publishers enjoy
40% profit margins thanks to the creativity of others.
By claiming to represent artists, copyright companies can also justify setting
up costly new organisations that will supposedly channel more money to
creators. In fact, as later blog posts will reveal, collecting societies have a
record of spending the money they receive on fat salaries and outrageous perks
for the people who run them. In the end, very little goes to the artists they
are supposed to serve."
Via Glyn Moody, who wrote "isn’t it strange? copyright companies claim that we
need longer, stronger copyright to help the starving artists; and yet most of
the money goes to the companies…"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
