I figured an alternative angle was to provide a state-managed licensing board. If the original rights-holder doesn't want to sell, or is intentionally obtuse (

I figured an alternative angle was to provide a state-managed licensing board. If the original rights-holder doesn't want to sell, or is intentionally obtuse (i. e. making obvious bad-faith offers), you'd be able to buy a license from the state and the rightsholder can claim the funds from the licensing board. The pricing would be intended to be "convenience store pricing"-- too expensive to be a good choice most of the time, but when nothing else is available, (or you want something otherwise unobtainable, like a wide-scale blanket license over a large set of content), it's still a better deal than having to go without.