Richard has mistaken me for a Hollywood Mogul.
Copyright is a state sponsored monopoly, often associated with other
anti-competitive behaviour, especially among marketing and distribution.
Also according to economic theory, they (copyright owners, distributors
etc) capture the positive externalities and public surplus. Free Riding
is not a problem, as the copyright owners should not be able to capture
all the social value, and the goods are non-exclusive, and non-rival.
(Credit: Mark A. Lemley for highlighting the economic theory).
Copyright also does not "promote science and the useful arts", as
required by the US constitution. (Book: Against Intellectual Monopoly:
source of evidence)
"For Coase, however, property is not a simple. As he famously
wrote in a 1959 Journal of Law and Economics article about the
Federal Communications Commission, “All property rights
interfere with the ability of people to use resources. What has
to be insured is that the gain from interference more than offsets
the harm it produces.”" Ronald Coase (Prof Lawrence Lessig - SSRN-id604062)
Copyright effectively lasts forever, and produces huge harm (social
losses, especially if strictly enforced) ...
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