Intellectual property issues such as copyrights, patents, trademarks,
peer to peer networks, sampling and digital rights technology have a
profound impact on many aspects of society. Interbeing provides links
to emerging IP stories with a focus on law, technology and culture.
peer to peer networks, sampling and digital rights technology have a
profound impact on many aspects of society. Interbeing provides links
to emerging IP stories with a focus on law, technology and culture.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
BMI posts record growth
BMI, one of the top performing rights organizations, reported a $43 million increase in royalties this year. That's a 6.2% increase over the prior year. BMI President and CEO Frances W. Preston said both the revenues and royalty distributions were the largest in the company's history. How can this be true if music downloaders are having a severe impact on music sales?
Historical property laws were based on real scarcity. The creation of physical objects has a cost, whether it is a chair from a factory or a potato from a farm. When I take one from you, there is a cost for you to replace it. If I take a CD from a store without paying for it, the store is out both the cost of the CD and the profit they might have made from its sale. When I take a CD they can not sell it. Obviously, the theft of physical objects has a definite negative impact on the property's owner.
When people download a song or a CD from a P2P network, there is no injured party, unless the sum total of lost sales is greater than the total of sales gained. Lost sales would be from downloaders who would have purchased the music if they couldn't download it. Sales gained would be from downloaders who would not have later purchased the music unless they had been first introduced to it through their download. In my own limited experience, it seems that there is a net gain to the copyright holders.
The problem is that many people treat this as a moral issue without considering the underlying ethical questions. The reason that distributing music on P2P networks is against U.S. law is not because of the eighth commandment. How can I have stolen something from you if you still possess it?
Copyright and intellectual property law is a modern invention. We should slow down from this rapid move towards legislation and open real dialogue.
PERMALINK: 1:04 AM
BMI, one of the top performing rights organizations, reported a $43 million increase in royalties this year. That's a 6.2% increase over the prior year. BMI President and CEO Frances W. Preston said both the revenues and royalty distributions were the largest in the company's history. How can this be true if music downloaders are having a severe impact on music sales?
Historical property laws were based on real scarcity. The creation of physical objects has a cost, whether it is a chair from a factory or a potato from a farm. When I take one from you, there is a cost for you to replace it. If I take a CD from a store without paying for it, the store is out both the cost of the CD and the profit they might have made from its sale. When I take a CD they can not sell it. Obviously, the theft of physical objects has a definite negative impact on the property's owner.
When people download a song or a CD from a P2P network, there is no injured party, unless the sum total of lost sales is greater than the total of sales gained. Lost sales would be from downloaders who would have purchased the music if they couldn't download it. Sales gained would be from downloaders who would not have later purchased the music unless they had been first introduced to it through their download. In my own limited experience, it seems that there is a net gain to the copyright holders.
The problem is that many people treat this as a moral issue without considering the underlying ethical questions. The reason that distributing music on P2P networks is against U.S. law is not because of the eighth commandment. How can I have stolen something from you if you still possess it?
Copyright and intellectual property law is a modern invention. We should slow down from this rapid move towards legislation and open real dialogue.
PERMALINK: 1:04 AM
