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Devils advocate, the only reason for that last part is because patent and copyright are only useful at the point where enough money is flowing around that lawye
by kedean 11y ago
Devils advocate, the only reason for that last part is because patent and copyright are only useful at the point where enough money is flowing around that lawyers are involved. Artists definitely care if someone steals their work, but you don't usually hear about that happening because copyright exists. You know all the hubub about certain comedians stealing jokes from other comedians? That's a realm with no copyright/patent equivalent.
- caf 11y agoFor all the "hubub", it doesn't seem to have stopped new comedic acts being being written?
- mdpopescu 11y agoSame with the fashion industry, where some people are trying really hard to bring copyright in despite the fact that it's much more profitable without it than the entire media industry.
- throwawaykf05 11y agoOr maybe because they are less able to protect their works, there are fewer people being motivated to participate in the comedy (and as mentioned by sibling comment, fashion) industries? The premise of copyright is not causing but promoting creation of works. Subtle but important distinction. Nobody said there would be no creation without copyright, just that there would be more with it.
- maehwasu 11y agoThere's seems to be quite high supplies of both comedy and fashion in today's world. Before imposing a system of copyright to "promote" them, you'd want to be EXTREMELY fucking sure that a) the quality/quantity will go up b) you're fine with massive new amounts of money being siphoned into rent-seeking industries (legal, rights holding companies, etc) c) you don't create side-effects that actually decrease output and/or lower quality
- LLWM 11y agoThere certainly aren't many good ones. And even if you don't care about the quality of comedy, any layman can compare the comedy industry to another industry that does have such protections, like, say, film or software, and see a huge gap.
- hrnnnnnn 11y agoStewart Lee handled this beautifully in his 90's Comedian show when Joe Pasquale stole some of his material. He made a joke Pasquale couldn't steal, which involved, among other things, vomiting into the gaping anus of Christ.
- maffydub 11y agoReally minor nitpick/trivia point: I think Stewart Lee said that Joe Pasquale stole some of Michael Redmond (another comedian)'s material, not Stewart Lee's. Definitely agree that Stewart Lee's bit on this is genius, though!
- beefield 11y agoThank you, I have tried to come up with industries without practically any IP protection. Now I have two. Comedy and Financial engineering. Funnily enough, I do not feel deprived of comedy, and what comes to financial innovations, I would argue that their supply is actually more than sufficient. (Maybe, just maybe, we should allow patents for financial instruments just for the sake of limiting the speed of development of those)
- 7Z7 11y agoClothing also. You cannot copyright an item of clothing, or even a particular cut. Only specific trademarkable additions, such as labelling and, for instance, the specific stitch pattern Levis do on the back pocket of their jeans.
- LLWM 11y agoI don't feel deprived of comedy in general because anyone can redistribute some list of a few hundred jokes without repercussion. Good comedy, however, is hard to come by. I've heard it all before and now I need to look for niche domains like language intersection to find novel jokes.