STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 9 March 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

47. Actually, work for hire is something quite different

It's not the copyright on this that protects the publisher -- it's the contract.

Copyrights and patents DO protect the creators' rights, but copyrights and patents don't guarantee profits. The recording industry is a good example -- where the creative artists were able to take at least some control and ownership of their works away from the broadcasters, while sharing some of that ownership and control with the "publishers." Unfortunately, print publishing had a much longer history than copyright and too many traditions were bound into the business, leaving the creative folks with far too little leverage. Digital publishing offers the hope indeed of destroying traditional print publishing, and while I understand there are those who cling defiantly to their dead tree books and brick and mortar book stores, the industry behind all that is antithetical to creative freedom.

Off my soap box and into the shower.