Arts have always been subsidized, after all, whether by wealthy Medici patrons or kings or popes. The market seems to me to be another version for that, even allowing for a sort of self-sponsorship. Where it gets tricky is with those who create art for art's sake, rather than profit being the primary hope and dream. But I'm not sure I wholly buy the "art solely for art" argument either, since after all Da Vinci et al had no problem seeking out patrons and creating art that was deeply humanistic and challenging, while at the same time paying the bills.
What is interesting was that there was a paper in the RSA that looked at what motivates us to create, and put forward that its far more complex than simply fiscally rewarding someone. It cited Wikipedia as an example of people who will take time to create something, for free, and not expect any compensation. Now, a wikipedia article and a painting aren't the same thing, obviously, but the question arises is what does motivate someone to make the wikipedia article in the first place? Given that copyrights are designed to promote creativity, should we take these motivating factors into consideration when we're looking at overhauling copyright law for the Internet Age?
Speaking as a writer, I doubt many who write would stop if it became forbidden to make money off of the process. There's an exhibitionist attitude toward art--look at what I did! That, I'd imagine, is a huge part of the allure. Look at fanfiction; there's no possible way you can make money off of that, but people feel the urge to create and to share nonetheless. Self-expression is the other side of the coin; people simply need to do this, in one way or another. Even if we're not writing novels or painting frescos, many of us journal, or doodle. Copyright seems like it should enter in when we want to develop those ideas, to own them, not just out of desire for profit but a sense of pride in what we have wrought. The copyright, the publication, the exhibit, etc, validates our visions and the identity that's trying to peek out via those visions.
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