File Sharing in its sunset
I am a creator of a product... a product which I intend one day to polish and sophisticate enough to make marketable. That is, I plan on selling this product one day. It's not a product you can hold in your hands, drive off a lot, or hang on a wall. It's utterly intangible, and as such, must be supported by a platform of some kind.
I create intellectual property.
More specifically, I'm a writer. I write both fiction prose, and music. Right now, you can consider my "business" to be in a research and development stage, working on finalizing the product to reach the hands of the consumer. But make no mistake, I fully intend one day to profit from my endeavors. I am not motivated by some altruistic notion of creating art. Sure... I intend to entertain with my stories. I intend to create a positive emotional reaction to my music. I want to fulfill a need in my consumer, which is to be moved or to be entertained. I intend to elicit emotional response.
But my stories, and my music, can not stand on its own. It must be carried on a platform. Stories historically were put to paper, either by ink or by typeset, and the platform to sell to the consumer has been in the form of a book. However, this has changed with the advent of electronic format which can be maintained well into the care of the consumer. However, it's much easier to copy and distribute an electronic platform than it is to copy an entire book.
As the creator of this product, I intend to be compensated (one day) for disseminating my product. Understanding the complexity of the publishing industry (one doesn't get paid for each book sold... one gets paid for the story and the house technically works through the rest, with some complexities of royalties thrown in there... it gets murkier when discussing music), I have never strayed from the notion that a story, or a song, is product.
And when a person makes a copy of this product in order to distribute this product to others without their having to pay for it... this is theft. Nevermind the complexities of the publishing machines. When it comes down to it... piracy hurts artists. And I can't, nor do I want to, support it.
So when I hear that Limewire is shut down, I feel happy. I feel like we have reaffirmed that just because a technology exists to make free dissemination of an intellectual property possible, that doesn't mean we must cater to the entitlement of the next generation to do so.
So, most of the arguments I hear from people that share pirated songs, books, software, etc... is that the products have become so over-priced, well beyond their actual value, that piracy is more of a self-defense reaction. Ok, this is more of an argument for pirated software. Sure... software prices have inflated due to the impact of piracy... it's a chicken-and-egg argument in a way. But I don't encourage it. I feel like it hits too close to home.
One day, the business mode of music and prose publishing may indeed succumb to those who oppose the "artificially enforced scarcity" that keeps authors in the business. One day, people may finally accept that music and fiction are not something they feel willing to purchase if they can avoid it. But it's my hope that people retain the value of the authors. I hope that, at least at that point, the thinking that will drive people to copy and share the product will be devoid of justifications and the entitlements that dress up criminal self-interest as something that is somehow and inexplicably "noble."
For now, at least... the organized file sharing sites appear to be losing the fight. And I'm not sad to hear it.
I create intellectual property.
More specifically, I'm a writer. I write both fiction prose, and music. Right now, you can consider my "business" to be in a research and development stage, working on finalizing the product to reach the hands of the consumer. But make no mistake, I fully intend one day to profit from my endeavors. I am not motivated by some altruistic notion of creating art. Sure... I intend to entertain with my stories. I intend to create a positive emotional reaction to my music. I want to fulfill a need in my consumer, which is to be moved or to be entertained. I intend to elicit emotional response.
But my stories, and my music, can not stand on its own. It must be carried on a platform. Stories historically were put to paper, either by ink or by typeset, and the platform to sell to the consumer has been in the form of a book. However, this has changed with the advent of electronic format which can be maintained well into the care of the consumer. However, it's much easier to copy and distribute an electronic platform than it is to copy an entire book.
As the creator of this product, I intend to be compensated (one day) for disseminating my product. Understanding the complexity of the publishing industry (one doesn't get paid for each book sold... one gets paid for the story and the house technically works through the rest, with some complexities of royalties thrown in there... it gets murkier when discussing music), I have never strayed from the notion that a story, or a song, is product.
And when a person makes a copy of this product in order to distribute this product to others without their having to pay for it... this is theft. Nevermind the complexities of the publishing machines. When it comes down to it... piracy hurts artists. And I can't, nor do I want to, support it.
So when I hear that Limewire is shut down, I feel happy. I feel like we have reaffirmed that just because a technology exists to make free dissemination of an intellectual property possible, that doesn't mean we must cater to the entitlement of the next generation to do so.
So, most of the arguments I hear from people that share pirated songs, books, software, etc... is that the products have become so over-priced, well beyond their actual value, that piracy is more of a self-defense reaction. Ok, this is more of an argument for pirated software. Sure... software prices have inflated due to the impact of piracy... it's a chicken-and-egg argument in a way. But I don't encourage it. I feel like it hits too close to home.
One day, the business mode of music and prose publishing may indeed succumb to those who oppose the "artificially enforced scarcity" that keeps authors in the business. One day, people may finally accept that music and fiction are not something they feel willing to purchase if they can avoid it. But it's my hope that people retain the value of the authors. I hope that, at least at that point, the thinking that will drive people to copy and share the product will be devoid of justifications and the entitlements that dress up criminal self-interest as something that is somehow and inexplicably "noble."
For now, at least... the organized file sharing sites appear to be losing the fight. And I'm not sad to hear it.