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Ps103 -> RE: Ethics of bootleg (otherwise unavailable) DVDs? (5/21/2008 4:50:14 PM)
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Hey, Rufas--long time, so see[:D] Sam pretty much said what I was about to say about "little guys." Copyright laws are copyright laws--they do not discrminate in who they protect, and they protect the owners of the copyrights. If you write the most brilliant book imaginable about Hoovervilles, it is copyrighted (technically) the minute you type it into Word. To protect yourself to the fullest extent of the copyright law, it is advisable to pay to have the copyright registered, but there are ways to still prove that it is your work that will hold up in court when I steal it and try to publish it myself. Now, if you decide to publish it, you would most likely be wise to sell only the first North American rights, or something like that to the pubishing company. Or, if you divide it up and get it published in pieces in Great Depression! magazine, you could sell first serial rights. The rights you would have sold would be for the specific use intended, and unless you agreed and sold further rights, the publisher would only have rights to their part of the work, and you would retain the rest. If I write a song and record it, I would most likely retain the rights to the song itself, but when I record it, (unless I do it all myself) the recording studio would put a great deal of production work into the CD--it is not going to just be me and my penny whistle. So when you come along and want to record it, you are most likely going to have to deal with me about it--unless I did something like the aforementioned Beatles and do not retain the rights for myself. See, there are different levels of rights, all of which can be negotiated, bought and sold. The song Happy Birthday is copyrighted, btw. Now I doubt that the owners would howl too much if you sang it to your seven-year-old on the appointed day, but if you use it in a movie, record it, or sing it from outer space and broadcast it over the airwaves, you will need to get permission from the owners. For the most part, I would say those who sell copyrights are adequately compensated. I have no proof--just a strong suspicion. If I refuse to sell *any* rights, no company in its right mind would deal with me. Artistic temperments are notoriously unstable (and I have one, so I am not insulting anyone here) and dealing with a steady stream of primadonnas who are firm in their conviction that everything they do is golden...well, ya gotta have someone who knows what the public actually will pay for[;)]. (Suddenly Yoko Ono's screeching Whhhhy on the back of an old 45 flashed into my brain[&:]) Anyway--with regard to the large company that bought out the small one: it wasn't so much a matter of the large company's product being "better," it was more that they were, in effect competing with the studio and buying them out put an end to that. I know you think that proves your point about the "little guy," but it was more about their wanting to be rich and famous. They had a good gig going, and they would have done just fine to stay as they were, but they thought they got the golden ticket. They got lots of money, though--just no big mansion in Hollywood and the guard at the studio greeting them by name every morning[;)]
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