Re:What will enter the public domain in 2022
by khafra on Friday December 03, 2021 @03:28PM
(#29434923)
The “initial duration X free” I mentioned solves all these problems without producing very onerous complications.
Even if it didn’t, a small creator could get immediate cash infusions simply by pricing his newly created characters at a large multiple of what he thinks he could make off them—that way, Disney’s buyout is a providential windfall instead of legal thievery.
I think you’re undercounting the benefits and overcounting the side effects of incentive compatible mechanisms!
Re:What will enter the public domain in 2022
by dahfizz on Saturday December 04, 2021 @12:14AM
(#29438869)
> The “initial duration X free” I mentioned solves all these problems without producing very onerous complications.
I guess that depends on how you define it. All the marvel characters and stories have existed for decades. The only thing new about the movies are the movies themselves
> a small creator could get immediate cash infusions simply by pricing his newly created characters at a large multiple of what he thinks he could make off them—that way, Disney’s buyout is a providential windfall instead of legal thievery.
Yeah, and run the risk of bankrupting themselves from the tax bill in the process.
The comparison was with OP's suggestion of replacing copyright with a simple tax, not with current copyright law. I agree Harberger taxes would be simpler than the existing system, though still not preferable.
> In a de novo work like Toy Story, or a fully licensed work like Wreck-It Ralph, Disney owns the rights and knows their value when they announce the upcoming film.
Sure, but a competitor could steal the rights out from under them in the time between announcing the film and the film hitting theaters.
There's another issue with not-yet-profitable IP. With Harberger taxes you wouldn't be able to protect IP while you're still working to build products around it. This is another way that smaller / new players get screwed with this type of system.
As I said, the forced buying / selling creates way more problems than it solves. All we are trying to do here is determine how high a tax should be. Inventing a scheme where people and companies can steal from each other (for a fee) is always going to have worse second order effects and be more complicated than just coming up with a price formula for the tax.