Copyright has almost always about paying the middlemen. The artists are used as the poster children, but they usually get thrown under the bus once the industry tests what it wants.
And what were the defendants out in legal fees and other costs? There should be a recourse against companies that hire attorneys who have had too much caffeine.
This seems like the kind of thing that newspapers and news organizations could use to connect with their readers and build community.
The problem is that it would take some real commitment from news organizations, their reporters, and their editors. Too many news organizations don't want to be bothered with the contributions of non-professionals. Plus, sites like Fox News don't really want to be bothered by having to deal with the facts.
I noticed a bull complaining about not getting paid for milk. He must represent the ASCAP execs who don't make music but expect to get paid. In fact, the bull seemed to be running the show, so he must be an exec who expects most of the royalties on the eggs and milk will be going to him because he recruited the chicken and cow.
It sort of makes me want to go out and eat a steak.
The reason for blocking the whole YouTube.com domain is obvious. The judge wanted to draw maximum attention to the video. By blocking the entire site people log on and see that youtube is gone. They ask around at work and find out that youtube is blocked because of one particularly interesting video. They also get the url of one of a dozen other sites that are hosting copies of the video.
It is always easier to pretend to have good morals than it is to actually have good morals.
Cleaning up the language is a lot easier than cleaning up the situation that made the email a matter of public interest in the first place.
Also, there are massive problems with word filters. Sometimes the words being filtered are legitimate words in a certain context, making communication on that topic difficult. Second, people learn where the edges of the filter are and come up with "masked vulgarity" that will slip around the filters. On the positive side, sometimes the masked vulgarity is very funny.
If filters are the "solution" Goldman Sacks implements, I can hardly wait for the next set of hearings five or ten years from now. The fact that GS execs still don't understand that the problem was underlying ethics pretty much guarantees we will be treated to another round of hearings in a few years. Masked vulgarity is often a lot funnier to read than the original vulgarity, so the new batch of emails we see at the next hearings should be even funnier.
Actually the following is probably just closer to correct and is still flawed. It is based on my memories of Econ 101 which I took 37 years ago.
"Cost per copy" or "distribution cost" is not the economic measure that drives the price of digital copies to near zero. In a pure market it is the "marginal cost" that sets the price. The marginal cost is the price of producing one more item. Sellers try to price things at average cost to maximize their profits, but consumer sovereignty drives the price to the marginal cost. The marginal cost of producing one more copy of a small digital work is about as close to zero as anything can be, hence the market price should also be near zero if you apply pure economic theory.
Theater owners are in a tough spot. Their contracts with the studios give almost all the profit for ticket sales to the studios which means the theater owners have to make their profit from pre movie ads and concessions. They are also required, or at least encouraged to treat patrons like they are criminals.
The theaters should be looking to the studios for better contracts and the flexibility to give customers a better theater experience.
As I have said before, levy systems tend to capture a moment in time and fail in the long term because they ignore future changes. In the end, a significant part of the money collected goes into lobbying and trying to preserve the levy system itself.
There are some translation problems, especially for the pro-copyright folks. All they get when they translate something like this is "Bla, Bla, Bla, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda." Of course, they would see exactly the same thing if it was written in their native language.
The reason the FCC's definition speeds seem highis that in the US we are used to very slow speeds. When we hear speeds for other parts of the world they are so far off from what we have that the foreign speeds just don't seem believable. Apparently the lack of cometition works for the telcos at the psychological level, too.
There is some evidence that it is possible to connect with fans at the blockbuster scale. In fact, there have been some movies that were a hit BECAUSE someone involved with the project. "Snakes on a Plane" comes to mind.
The blockbuster-oriented studios may not be interested in connecting with fans, but there is at least one little lesson they could learn. If you can't connect with fans individually, at least try not to piss them off as a group.
Re: Hope "informative" letter includes that ignoring it is possible.
>> the letter gives potential defendants plenty of warning time to wipe disks.
Actually, wiping disks to intentionally destroy evidence potentially gets them in more trouble. There is very little that will sway a judge against a defendant's case faster than destruction of evidence.
Besides, I doubt that the people who get caught would have the expertise to effectively wipe the hard disk and all evidence of file sharing. After all, it takes very little expertise to avoid getting caught file sharing. If they got caught, their technical skills are in question.
There are a lot of problems with "blanket payments." In the best of circumstances they tend to be modeled on one moment in time. The CD levy in Canada is a good example. At one point it looked like the main purpose of blank CD's was going to be making copies of commercially produced music CD's. At that point it might have made sense to send the levy for blank CD's to the people who produced commercial CD's. However, the market changed for both music and uses of CD's. Now people are more likely to copy their music to other media, and the people who buy blank CD's are likely to be backing up their hard drives or installing Linux. So now you have a situation where IT folks are paying subscriptions to the music industry. Meanwhile new artists who don't sign with the regular music labels do not get a cut of the CD levy. This makes absolutely no sense from an economic standpoint and creates significant inefficiencies. The people using CD's now have an incentive to use other media which might not be as efficient, and the people who receive the money from the levy perpetuate an old business model. What is worse, a significant part of the levy ends up going toward lobbying to preserve the levy system itself.
Existing patents will probably have to be challenged on an individual basis. Presumably the courts will develop a definition of what is patentable, and then that rule will have to be applied to each patent.
Unfortunately, patent trolls threaten to sue even if they have a weak claim. Their game is to hope that they will get something. That will probably continue. If the big patent-target companies decide to continue to cave in and make small settlements the trolls will probably keep doing what they are doing until their specific patent is actually declared to be invalid.
On the post: Yet Another Study Shows How Copyright Can Hinder The Spread Of Knowledge
On the post: NatWest Realizes It Screwed Up Sending Cease & Desist To Website Reviewing NatWest
Re:
Given the number of bogus C&D letters out there, they might be approaching the point of being considered an infinite good.
On the post: NatWest Realizes It Screwed Up Sending Cease & Desist To Website Reviewing NatWest
On the post: Crowdsourced Fact Checking
Opportunity to CwF
The problem is that it would take some real commitment from news organizations, their reporters, and their editors. Too many news organizations don't want to be bothered with the contributions of non-professionals. Plus, sites like Fox News don't really want to be bothered by having to deal with the facts.
On the post: If Andy Warhol Painted His Campbell's Soup Paintings Today, How Fast Would The Cease & Desist Arrive?
Re:
Could you please site one example?
On the post: ASCAP Continues Propaganda Campaign With Laughably Bad Video [Updated]
Bunch of bull
It sort of makes me want to go out and eat a steak.
On the post: Russian Court Orders YouTube Blocked
Obvious reason
On the post: Well That Should Fix Things: Goldman Sachs Implements Email Filter To Ban Swear Words
The easy route
Cleaning up the language is a lot easier than cleaning up the situation that made the email a matter of public interest in the first place.
Also, there are massive problems with word filters. Sometimes the words being filtered are legitimate words in a certain context, making communication on that topic difficult. Second, people learn where the edges of the filter are and come up with "masked vulgarity" that will slip around the filters. On the positive side, sometimes the masked vulgarity is very funny.
If filters are the "solution" Goldman Sacks implements, I can hardly wait for the next set of hearings five or ten years from now. The fact that GS execs still don't understand that the problem was underlying ethics pretty much guarantees we will be treated to another round of hearings in a few years. Masked vulgarity is often a lot funnier to read than the original vulgarity, so the new batch of emails we see at the next hearings should be even funnier.
On the post: Debunking The Logic In Favor Of Paywalls
Re: Re: Re: Poor assertion
Actually the following is probably just closer to correct and is still flawed. It is based on my memories of Econ 101 which I took 37 years ago.
"Cost per copy" or "distribution cost" is not the economic measure that drives the price of digital copies to near zero. In a pure market it is the "marginal cost" that sets the price. The marginal cost is the price of producing one more item. Sellers try to price things at average cost to maximize their profits, but consumer sovereignty drives the price to the marginal cost. The marginal cost of producing one more copy of a small digital work is about as close to zero as anything can be, hence the market price should also be near zero if you apply pure economic theory.
On the post: Theater Owner Begs Hollywood Not To Give Consumers What They Want
The theaters should be looking to the studios for better contracts and the flexibility to give customers a better theater experience.
On the post: If Your Music Business Model Is To Make Money On Live Shows, Make Those Live Shows Experiences To Remember
I have a feeling this is the secret to most really successful businesses, whether your business model is traditional or non traditional.
On the post: Richard Blumenthal Grandstands Over Violent Video Game Ban, While Publicly Displaying Ignorance Of Facts
Parents
On the post: People Aren't Buying Blank CDs Any More, So Collection Agency Demands Media Levy Expanded To Mobile Phones
Moment in time
On the post: Deutsche Bank Report Notes That It's Time To Rethink Copyright
Translation problems
On the post: FCC Finally Admits US Broadband Competitiveness Sucks; Broadband Co's Then Order Their Favorite Politicians To Trash FCC
speeds
On the post: Big Game Studio Mocks Indie Developer For Saying He Wants To Connect With Fans
Minimum lesson
The blockbuster-oriented studios may not be interested in connecting with fans, but there is at least one little lesson they could learn. If you can't connect with fans individually, at least try not to piss them off as a group.
On the post: US Copyright Group Kicking Off Next Round Of Lawsuits [Updated]
Re: Hope "informative" letter includes that ignoring it is possible.
Actually, wiping disks to intentionally destroy evidence potentially gets them in more trouble. There is very little that will sway a judge against a defendant's case faster than destruction of evidence.
Besides, I doubt that the people who get caught would have the expertise to effectively wipe the hard disk and all evidence of file sharing. After all, it takes very little expertise to avoid getting caught file sharing. If they got caught, their technical skills are in question.
On the post: Peter Jenner Admits That Stopping File Sharing Is Impossible
blanket payments
On the post: Is The Entertainment Industry Doing Itself Any Favors With Ridiculous Loss Claims?
On the post: First Post-Bilski Patent Appeals Ruling Rejects Software Patent
Re: Question
Unfortunately, patent trolls threaten to sue even if they have a weak claim. Their game is to hope that they will get something. That will probably continue. If the big patent-target companies decide to continue to cave in and make small settlements the trolls will probably keep doing what they are doing until their specific patent is actually declared to be invalid.
Next >>