Free Content Is A Promotional Good
from the look-at-that dept
People keep telling me that no one will ever create any "intellectual property" without being able to directly benefit off of it. In a discussion with the head of a "think tank" this week, I was told that "No intellectual property will EVER get created" (emphasis was his) without intellectual property laws. That seems pretty easy to disprove, considering (a) the amount of intellectual property created prior to intellectual property laws and (b) the amount of intellectual property created these days that doesn't use IP laws to protect itself. The simple fact is that there are other business models that don't require you to rely on bad intellectual property laws to make money. Here's yet another example. A guy who has been trying to break into the feature movie making business spent $30,000 of his own money to make a short 8 minute film called Batman: Dead End. Someone put the film online, and suddenly everyone in Hollywood wants to hire him. If the content is free, it can be used as a promotional item for future services. This guy has done that, without even realizing it.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
If you write, sculpt, photograph or mould something, then you are automatically the sole owner of all copy rights to that thing. If you sell a product or service under a given name long enough, you may have a de facto trademark.
The USA recognizes copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets as intellectual properties. Use of each of these are governed by contracted license between parties.
If you create any of the above, then you're "using IP laws to protect it," even if you do nothing else. You can sue with or without registrations and prove your post facto creation in the trial, albeit registrations make a case stronger.
Now, of course it's a fallacy to say NOBODY or NEVER in just about any circumstance. People bequest their creations as well as their physical property, and sometimes just for the good will.
Of course, even "good will" is an accountable line item if you really get down to details.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]