Zippy plus Copyright profit sharing and changing the nature of distribution.
In this musing I look (poorly) at how profit is derived from copyright distribution, I am ignoring most of the set in stone and vague rules and laws as I am trying to get to the core of the matter and not get distracted by superfluous things.
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Distribution methods.
Starting with legal distribution you have the publisher selling to the retailer, web store, or end user via their website. You also have licensed deals where revenue is made from advertisement or direct broadcasting over the air or the internet. There are also books and magazines.
The next area is the grayer one, used sale while first sale doctrine allows the resale of copyrighted goods without paying the copyright owner. In the modern age why a used copyrighted item should be treated differently than a website that is trying to make a profit off ad revenue and donations? I did not mention direct sell in this area as that's equitable to bootlegging.
Next in the gray area is what I would like to call "distribution without intent" IE via donations and ads you try and keep the site going while freely sharing copyrighted and other goods.
The blackest area is where flagrant disregard for copyright comes into play where items are reproduced physically and digitally and sold competing with the legal licensed copyright process. This is where I think it should be treated as a drug crime once you hit a certain monetary amount your property is taken, ect.
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Distribution rights.
Now with this in mind let's not forget that copyright grants the copyright owner exclusive rights to copying, distribution and profit obviously, first sale amends those rights to allow for legal, reasonable slights against the copyright owner. Fair use tries to do this as well but due to the vagueness in it, it's easily circumvented and nullified lessening the rights of the consumer and public and it also threatens their freedoms via unintended consequences.
Now how do we balance the rights of the copyright owner and the public, well first off you slot things into 3 categories licensed, protected, illicit. Licensed and illicit are rather simple you are either making a profit via the copyrighted goods under an agreement with the copyrighted owner or you are a criminal. Protected is basically distribution without attempting to make a profit period. This means one shall not attempt to make money from the process of distributing files or information that gains you copyrighted files from the site or links to and or from the site. Educational sites may be exempt but that needs decent standards to make it so the average joe cannot easily get the exemption.
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Profit distribution sharing
Now let's make the process of sharing profit easier as so everyone can enjoy the wealth of information and inspiration of the world's media. First off if a site is found to be making unlicensed profit the copyright owner may request them to join their profit sharing network, basically a page view/click based ad system that is injected into the site and can track bandwidth and files. Now if you have a web advertiser that's compatible with the profit sharing network they pay copy right owner via that if not the site owner dose. Donations can also be tracked and 15% of it taken for the copyright owner. If they do not request it then the site must drop all ads and donations, a 2nd violation of this means you have to audit your finances and show you are not making money from this site or their files, a 3rd violation it all gets sorted out in court .
The site owner can counter a denied request if willing to file as a nonprofit and pay 5 times the page view, click and donation percentage amount (75% on donations). Basically you do monetary damage to the site until they go under, if the site really wants to try and make a profit off copyrighted items.
Taxes and levy's can also be invented to balance things more used sale on the retail level, digital storage devices(flash, harddrives, discs, ect) internet service providers will be hit with a simple 10% tax.
The profit sharing network would be regulated under the regulatory board that manages the 10% media tax.
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In final
I really do not mind infinite copyright IE copyright that's longer than half the average lifespan of the populace as long as the populace has their rights and freedoms intact. But if they continue to focus on copies and distribution it will lead to fascist rules and laws to protect information from the populace…..
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