I was talking to an artist yesterday who believed that Copyright was altogether a wholly outdated idea that would end up becoming obsolete as the younger generation could copy & access stuff for free so much more easily.
What do y'all think of that? Does copyright have a future?
Yes. :P
Look at the bottom of the page. What do you see in the centre?
"Hosted for free by ZetaBoards"
If websites can now be hosted for free, what's the point?
Only two organisations in the world take Copyright seriously nowadays: The United States Government and Facebook.
Copyrights do not just cover text and electronic images/video, and anyway I think there is a fudging between copyright and intellectual property going on here.
Copyright is admittedly a bigger thing in industries like, say, medicine. No copyright, companies don't get any return on investing in new drugs (since the R&D is actually the major cost and they need to recoup it). So they would then not invest. However having copyright means they have everyone over a barrel and can charge tons for the drug even after R&D costs have been covered.
(I consider this an argument for the nationalisation of drug production, but I'll duck my socialist head below the parapet.)
In my opinion, the media industry, and the literature industry to some extent, is clicnging on to a business model that is fast becoming irrelevant in the face of the internet. Why buy a CD when you can buy a download? Why go to Waterstones when you can go to Amazon? They also seem to be pushing the anti piracy logic that a stolen song/game/app/ebook equals a lost sale. Most of the time it doesn't, as anyone who wants to pay for something will, and anyone who doesn't won't, regardless of availability.
I wonder what new policies should them implement... to keep up with buisness, you know.
Nonetheless it's pretty cool to have the cd in your hands than just looking at it through the screen, it what goes with digital downloading. Steam is awesome, but some games are really worth buying just to have the case in your shelf
Even more so with books. I still can't bring myself to read full-length books on anything other than paper. :D
Lol, I didn't even consider books.
I saw an old man use a kindle or something the other time. Didn't look that bad. Dunno. Personal taste does influence one's thought a lot after all.