[sclug] Payments and "rights"

[mail@europa.demon.co.uk]

On Sunday 16 March 2008 17:01:35 you wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 01:40:47 +0000, mail at europa.demon.co.uk wrote:
> : As a "rodney" (please retract that if we are to continue any discussion)
> : I understand "licensing" perfectly well, I simply consider it morally and
> : ethically wrong, and I can inform you that copyright is not required for
> : Free Software, it is merely a mechanism (the "copyright hack" to turn it
> : into copyleft) which we use under the current legal system that
> : recognises copyright to enable Free Software in the society we live in
> : today.
>
> That software -- or, as you've stated *anything* copyrightable --
> television programme, film, book, or recording, was not produced for
> nothing: it takes resources to produce all of these things.
>
> Is it not morally and ethically right to allow the entity which spent
> those resources some mechanism to recover those costs?  Surely it isn't
> ethical to deny a writer or a filmmaker the fruits of their labour?

There is no absolute right to expect payment because you've worked hard... The question is what the market value of the work done might be. And if you produced something which was not of value... hope you have a second job!

There is more I might say, I'm sorry, I'm momentarily distracted, I must catch a plane tomorrow morning, the economics of the whole thing is however fascinating and I'm in the process of writing about that.

>
> There wouldn't be much left of the entertainment industries left if not.

People have a certain amount of disposable income to spend on entertainment (much much less than the full retail price per instance x infringing copy made under current law.. do you doubt me?).

Do you think that in a free market, that clever entrepreneurs would not find a way to exploit what is available, and make money in the process? It's so funny to me when people think I'm communist, when I'm proposing to abolish anti-competitive monopolies, and let the market find a solution!

But I'm a bit tired tonight, I will write later in the week.

Best wishes all
John