kalm, nieuwsgierig, vastbesloten
Vandaag speciale aandacht voor de nieuwe juridische weblog IT en Recht, het zusje van Boek 9 dat zich richt op IT- en internetrecht in het algemeen. Een buitengewoon mooi initiatief. De berichten die er nu al staan, geven een mooi inzicht in de rechtspraak op dit gebied, en tot mijn vreugde wordt er ook echt commentaar geleverd door de plaatsende juristen. Zo mag ik het zien!
There’s an article in Techdirt today that discusses just how many books would be available in the public domain if copyright had stayed at its original length. It also references a research article that concludes that the optimal term for copyright is 15 years [PDF link].
I’ve argued in the past in favour of a five-year copyright term, but with indefinite renewal for works that are commercially active, and a ‘use it or lose it’ clause to encourage both a more active commercial exploitation and distribution of a wider array of works and a more vibrant and healthy public domain.
Because far from providing ‘protection’, in most cases, blanket copyright is dooming recordings to be lost to history.
Perfect example of “If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer: yo’re the product”.
Myspace Product Manager Steve Clark approached me through my blog to have a chat about what was going on at Myspace, the big changes that they were making, and what they were doing to belatedly address the fact that they have access to (as I put it) every frickin’ band on the planet.
Now, I’ve been critical of Myspace in the past (to say the least). My complaints have been many and varied, but my concerns have been especially with respect to the fact that all of their efforts in the music space have been directed exclusively at major labels – and the fact that as an interface, both for artists and for fans, it’s a pile of crap.
A friend of mine once joked that you can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter. Basically, Myspace has been rolled in glitter.
Soon it will be October 24th
When I did my rant about Myspace nearly a year ago (which Steve tells me he’s quoted extensively in internal Powerpoint presentations), I suggested we give them until October 24th this year to sort everything out and properly respect the fact that they have every frickin’ band on the planet – and not only make the most of that opportunity, but actually provide a service to them that is helpful rather than contemptuous and outright exploitative.
My suggestion was that if they haven’t sorted things out by then, we stage a mass exodus. Everyone leave simultaneously.
You want a platform for your music? There are other choices. I will, of course suggest Bandcamp partly because (full disclosure here) I’m on their board of advisors, but mostly because I think it’s brilliant both for artists and for fans (which is why I’m on their board of advisors). There are other choices. The important point is would be that they’re not Myspace.
After my interesting, thoroughly pleasant, intelligent and amiable one-hour chat with the very nice man from Myspace music, it is my considered opinion that they are not capable of making those changes.