Re:Negotiators Lose Last Chance to Salvage the TPP by Caving...
by dredmorbius on Thursday February 05, 2015 @01:09PM
(#9004760)
Yes, you've fleshed out pretty much exactly the argument I'd been vaguely pointing at.
There's a tremendous amount of pricing and negotiating strength which comes from power imbalances that are misrepresented as market forces. Pitching these as "the market decides" both takes guilt and fault out of the equation and masks what's actually going on. It's a matter which Adam Smith was aware of and spoke of at length -- much of Wealth of Nations concerns these relationships and much of the rest of it is mis-read to studiously ignore this fact.
I agree with you that short-term contracts (a year, possibly two) should be the limit of what can be struck with an author or artist. Another is for mechanical licenses (the spoiler effect -- another element Smith considers).
There's a tremendous amount of pricing and negotiating strength which comes from power imbalances that are misrepresented as market forces. Pitching these as "the market decides" both takes guilt and fault out of the equation and masks what's actually going on. It's a matter which Adam Smith was aware of and spoke of at length -- much of Wealth of Nations concerns these relationships and much of the rest of it is mis-read to studiously ignore this fact.
I agree with you that short-term contracts (a year, possibly two) should be the limit of what can be struck with an author or artist. Another is for mechanical licenses (the spoiler effect -- another element Smith considers).