I get what you’re saying but copyright is necessary otherwise nobody would create anything. If you can’t get compensated for your work then why put the effort in?
Hollywood wouldn’t exist without copyright and you might say oh well Hollywood doesn’t produce much good, but it does produce the vast majority of media you probably consume. I’m not saying you’re completely wrong but I don’t think you can just go Copyright = Bad, and leave it at that.
In a capitalist worldview, which is indeed the system we live in, your point makes sense. However, creative endeavors existed well before the ability to profit off of them. If I didn’t want for money in my daily life, I’d still be intensely motivated to create, as it’s one of the few things you can genuinely love doing regardless of if it’s making you money. Being creative is magnitudes more “basic human instinct” than making money will ever be, and I don’t buy for a second that “nobody would create anything” without the profit incentive. I do think that we would have a very different system for sharing our creativity without copyright, and it’d arguably be a better one than what we have now.
Big if. We unfortunately don’t live in a world where you can stay alive for long if you dedicated your time to the arts without getting paid. But in an ideal world where that wasn’t the case? I would agree with you there.
We should just use crowdfunding instead. There’s a lot of money you don’t have for crowdfunds because of IP monopolies today. Hollywood wouldn’t make as many high budget films, but it would remain a major hub for filmmakers who no longer need to appeal to entrenched business interests.
We’d get a lot of low budget but actually original films.
‘Nobody would create anything’ is an absolute lie that we’ve been fed, simply another part of the capitalist brainwashing propaganda.
The truth is people love to create stuff for the sake of it, and many people will create things even when it costs them time and money, because they enjoy it. The only thing that would be necessary for them to create things prolifically would be to ensure their ability to live and work without having to worry about ‘making a living’ or having to ‘earn’ enough money to live, and people would be producing tons of content.
If you doubt this, you’re not paying enough attention. People create amazing stuff without even hope of being paid. I have read hundreds of fanfics - some poorly written, some very well written - that never made money and never could make money. They were written because the writer wanted to tell a story with characters they loved. I have seen vast amounts of fanart, again, made with no hope of obtaining money. Especially before things like Patreon - these days you can make some money making fanart, which artists resort to because they have to, but every artist I’ve ever talked to hates the part of their life they have to devote to the ‘business’ side of things. Most early webcomics had no way of making money. Even today, most webcomics do not make money - most are simply made by creators that want to share their story and art.
In the gaming world, mods - free, unpaid mods - have been around for ages, and many of them are as amazing or even moreso than professionally made games. A very tiny minority of mod creators manage to turn a successful mod creation into a job in the industry, but the vast majority do this simply because they want to and enjoy making a thing people will appreciate.
Movies are about the only field I haven’t seen a plethora of freely made stuff in, and that’s probably a personal experience thing. I know there’s some.
Overall, I guarantee we would not see less things created as long as we allow creative people to use whatever they want and do not force them to toil for their survival, to have to monetize everything or else lose their standard of living. We would see rather an explosion of new creations, just like we saw when the internet rose to prominence and people started doing this kind of thing and posting it publicly. Only we would see it at an even greater scale.
“The only thing that would be necessary for them to create things prolifically would be to ensure their ability to live …”
We can already do this. It’s called paying them. Your entire argument is people would make things for free as long as they could get money. Do you realize how nonsensical that sounds?
Lot of armchair philosophists disagreeing with you, but you’re right.
Sure, some people make art for art’s sake. But it doesn’t put food on the table. Like it or not, most popular media is created at least in part as a source of income for the creator.
It’s fine to pirate things if you actually can’t/wouldn’t otherwise engage with the media. But at least be honest with yourself and recognize that you’re stealing income from the creator.
I get what you’re saying but copyright is necessary otherwise nobody would create anything. If you can’t get compensated for your work then why put the effort in?
Hollywood wouldn’t exist without copyright and you might say oh well Hollywood doesn’t produce much good, but it does produce the vast majority of media you probably consume. I’m not saying you’re completely wrong but I don’t think you can just go Copyright = Bad, and leave it at that.
I know that’s treason talk
In a capitalist worldview, which is indeed the system we live in, your point makes sense. However, creative endeavors existed well before the ability to profit off of them. If I didn’t want for money in my daily life, I’d still be intensely motivated to create, as it’s one of the few things you can genuinely love doing regardless of if it’s making you money. Being creative is magnitudes more “basic human instinct” than making money will ever be, and I don’t buy for a second that “nobody would create anything” without the profit incentive. I do think that we would have a very different system for sharing our creativity without copyright, and it’d arguably be a better one than what we have now.
This is exactly where I’m coming from.
You’d never have these kind of massive creations though. You’d have a bunch of half good bigger projects, and some truly great simple movies.
Big if. We unfortunately don’t live in a world where you can stay alive for long if you dedicated your time to the arts without getting paid. But in an ideal world where that wasn’t the case? I would agree with you there.
Dunno man. I feel like there are a ton of artists, that don‘t earn a cent with their art
That’s complete nonsense. People make art for free constantly everywhere.
Those people are not trying to live off the value added to society of their creative works.
Hollywood CEOs are trying to live off the value added to society of artists’ creative works.
We should just use crowdfunding instead. There’s a lot of money you don’t have for crowdfunds because of IP monopolies today. Hollywood wouldn’t make as many high budget films, but it would remain a major hub for filmmakers who no longer need to appeal to entrenched business interests.
We’d get a lot of low budget but actually original films.
‘Nobody would create anything’ is an absolute lie that we’ve been fed, simply another part of the capitalist brainwashing propaganda.
The truth is people love to create stuff for the sake of it, and many people will create things even when it costs them time and money, because they enjoy it. The only thing that would be necessary for them to create things prolifically would be to ensure their ability to live and work without having to worry about ‘making a living’ or having to ‘earn’ enough money to live, and people would be producing tons of content.
If you doubt this, you’re not paying enough attention. People create amazing stuff without even hope of being paid. I have read hundreds of fanfics - some poorly written, some very well written - that never made money and never could make money. They were written because the writer wanted to tell a story with characters they loved. I have seen vast amounts of fanart, again, made with no hope of obtaining money. Especially before things like Patreon - these days you can make some money making fanart, which artists resort to because they have to, but every artist I’ve ever talked to hates the part of their life they have to devote to the ‘business’ side of things. Most early webcomics had no way of making money. Even today, most webcomics do not make money - most are simply made by creators that want to share their story and art.
In the gaming world, mods - free, unpaid mods - have been around for ages, and many of them are as amazing or even moreso than professionally made games. A very tiny minority of mod creators manage to turn a successful mod creation into a job in the industry, but the vast majority do this simply because they want to and enjoy making a thing people will appreciate.
Movies are about the only field I haven’t seen a plethora of freely made stuff in, and that’s probably a personal experience thing. I know there’s some.
Overall, I guarantee we would not see less things created as long as we allow creative people to use whatever they want and do not force them to toil for their survival, to have to monetize everything or else lose their standard of living. We would see rather an explosion of new creations, just like we saw when the internet rose to prominence and people started doing this kind of thing and posting it publicly. Only we would see it at an even greater scale.
“The only thing that would be necessary for them to create things prolifically would be to ensure their ability to live …” We can already do this. It’s called paying them. Your entire argument is people would make things for free as long as they could get money. Do you realize how nonsensical that sounds?
Lot of armchair philosophists disagreeing with you, but you’re right.
Sure, some people make art for art’s sake. But it doesn’t put food on the table. Like it or not, most popular media is created at least in part as a source of income for the creator.
It’s fine to pirate things if you actually can’t/wouldn’t otherwise engage with the media. But at least be honest with yourself and recognize that you’re stealing income from the creator.