Editor’s note: We like thinking through every area of culture here at Mere-O, which is why I’m delighted that we’re going to spend a little time talking about the way technological changes have affected people’s ability to make money--and what we should do about it. Matt Miller goes first, Stephen Carradini will write on Wednesday, and then on Friday they will do a dialogue on the issues that come up. Thanks for reading. -- MLA
The Internet's already over two decades old, and we still haven't figured out how to cope with its potential for copyright infringement.
Any creative medium that can be digitally replicated finds itself in danger—music, film, photography, and every form of writing. Widespread pirating, Google Books, and other digital distribution methods threaten to make art something that consumers expect to get for free, always and everywhere.
Professionals in all these fields continue to feel acute anxiety at the potential that digital distribution could destroy their livelihood—and they're right to feel this way. Similarly, anyone concerned about the ongoing artistic vitality of our culture should be concerned about a future in which it's impossible to make a living in the arts. How are artists to make money when their work can be copied and distributed with such ease?
DRM is killing music, and it's a rip off! Parody of home taping is a rip off. Based off Image:DRM Is Killing Music.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many people have proposed or attempted solutions to the problem, but without much success or variation: in essence, all the proposals I have seen boil down to three approaches. And only one of the three, in my view, offers us any hopeful way forward.
The first approach is that most frequently taken by the big media companies: find a way to regain control over the means of copying and distribution. This might mean enhanced digital rights management (DRM) software; it might mean refusing to publish e-books; it might mean lobbying to enhance copyright law via SOPA/PIPA.
The problems with this solution are myriad, ranging from the rage you induce in consumers (and some artists) to lost revenue from refusing to engage in the digital market. Bottom line: increasing copy restriction doesn't work, because those dedicated to circumventing DRM or copyright law are always more nimble than those dedicated to enforcing them.
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