The Library Dilemma
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 1/5/2017 1:00:00 AM
If libraries were invented today... would they be legal?
Ever since the Internet came along, companies have complained that file sharing is costing them money because authors and artists don't get paid when you share your digital, music, or movies. Meanwhile, libraries lend books, music, and movies every day, without compensating the authors and artists, but we never hear anyone complain about that.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that we shut down libraries. I'm just drawing attention to the double standard. If I lend my friend one of my books, movies, or CDs, it's considered okay, even though that means that the authors and artists will not make any money off the transaction. Not only is it acceptable to lend them out, I can make money by selling them.
In a nutshell, publishers have no problem with the millions of people share physical media by lending it out, but they go out of their way to block people from doing the same thing with digital media.
If the central argument against sharing media is that it takes money away from authors and artists, why is it okay for libraries to do it?
If libraries were invented today... would publishers allow it? I don't think so.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
(Reply N/A) (Edit Topic N/A)
(Like Topic N/A) [0 ] 5643 Views
Related Posts
Digital Media(17)Libraries(1)Media(22)
Top 25 Posts
* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.
In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.
The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.
For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.
- Joe
Idea of the Day!
on...