3 ms·

It seems to me like you are describing an unlikely situation where a lot of conditions would need to be true for >20 year copyright to make sense: 1. Many arti

It seems to me like you are describing an unlikely situation where a lot of conditions would need to be true for >20 year copyright to make sense: 1. Many artists are commercial failures for over two decades, but eventually succeed; 2. These artists’ newer successful works don’t result in income equivalent to working a full-time non-creative job for that time; 3. Fans will not pay them for the old works without the threat of legal action; 4. There is no other way to monetise the old works by e.g. recording a commentary, audiobook, screenplay adaptation, manuscripts, compilations, special editions, etc.; 5. Artists don’t pander to current trends only because they know they might be able to make some money over 20 years later; 6. The money they will get paid in royalties under a contract where they sold the rights to a publisher when they were an unknown nobody is greater than the amount of money they would make selling it directly in the public domain after becoming commercially successful.

eropple 3y ago
Your "unlikely situation" is literally-not-figuratively how most authors you've heard of--no, not the GRRMs of the world, but the folks who sell books steadily--keep the lights on. The long tail exists and is very long--longer today in a world with Amazon--and that they don't have to write a screenplay adaptation and can instead eat and keep a roof over their heads while they write the next book is a feature, not a bug. It accrues over time and the gap between personal prosperity and precarity grows over time because the back catalog keeps selling.
- csnover 3y ago
  The story of the barely surviving artist that needs extremely long copyright durations to eat and keep a roof over their heads is an emotionally compelling one, but I’ve never seen it backed up by data—and I’ve looked quite hard to try to find some. Can you point me to a source that provides sales figures by publication date so it is possible to look at how much money is being spent on >20 year old fiction? A source that can exclude dead and high-net-worth authors would be ideal, or at least one that provides quantiles, since I’d expect old book sales to be disproportionately weighted toward rich or famous authors, rather than the sorts of working folks you’ve mentioned.
ofalkaed 3y ago
It is just one common example, not the rule, there are many other situations where this comes into play. What would have happened with Pynchon's post Gravity's Rainbow works if he was not able to get royalties from his previous works during that long writers block he had? During that time his only output was a collection of his early short stories most of which (probably all) were over 20 years old and by the time he got Vineland out all of his work but Gravity's Rainbow would have lost protection with a 20 year copyright. But it paid off in the end and he produced some great works since. 1. Yes, and many never succeed in their life but getting royalties from old works is something to keep you going and a reason not to give up. 2. Those successful works will not be bringing in money for decades to come, just a year or two and then slow to a trickle of royalties. Having a single work which sells well does not mean you are set for life, just means you can breathe easier for awhile. 3. Piracy would not be an issue if that were the case, many already do not pay for it. Sure many say that is because they don't want to support the industry but they are also taking from the writer much of the time. 4. But anyone can now monetize it in all those ways and now the author has to compete for their own work on top of all these extra business dealings and working on new output. And even then things like a bad movie version (which author has little control over) can seriously hurt future sales. This is just trying to turn artist into a brand and not many have pulled that off successfully. 5. This is not really a condition for your point and not even a point. 6. Generally rights are not sold, publishing right are sold to the publisher for a certain number of years and after that time is up the author is free to go make a deal with another publisher or self publish it or what ever they desire.

eropple 3y ago

Your "unlikely situation" is literally-not-figuratively how most authors you've heard of--no, not the GRRMs of the world, but the folks who sell books steadily--keep the lights on. The long tail exists and is very long--longer today in a world with Amazon--and that they don't have to write a screenplay adaptation and can instead eat and keep a roof over their heads while they write the next book is a feature, not a bug. It accrues over time and the gap between personal prosperity and precarity grows over time because the back catalog keeps selling.

csnover 3y ago
The story of the barely surviving artist that needs extremely long copyright durations to eat and keep a roof over their heads is an emotionally compelling one, but I’ve never seen it backed up by data—and I’ve looked quite hard to try to find some. Can you point me to a source that provides sales figures by publication date so it is possible to look at how much money is being spent on >20 year old fiction? A source that can exclude dead and high-net-worth authors would be ideal, or at least one that provides quantiles, since I’d expect old book sales to be disproportionately weighted toward rich or famous authors, rather than the sorts of working folks you’ve mentioned.

ofalkaed 3y ago

It is just one common example, not the rule, there are many other situations where this comes into play. What would have happened with Pynchon's post Gravity's Rainbow works if he was not able to get royalties from his previous works during that long writers block he had? During that time his only output was a collection of his early short stories most of which (probably all) were over 20 years old and by the time he got Vineland out all of his work but Gravity's Rainbow would have lost protection with a 20 year copyright. But it paid off in the end and he produced some great works since. 1. Yes, and many never succeed in their life but getting royalties from old works is something to keep you going and a reason not to give up. 2. Those successful works will not be bringing in money for decades to come, just a year or two and then slow to a trickle of royalties. Having a single work which sells well does not mean you are set for life, just means you can breathe easier for awhile. 3. Piracy would not be an issue if that were the case, many already do not pay for it. Sure many say that is because they don't want to support the industry but they are also taking from the writer much of the time. 4. But anyone can now monetize it in all those ways and now the author has to compete for their own work on top of all these extra business dealings and working on new output. And even then things like a bad movie version (which author has little control over) can seriously hurt future sales. This is just trying to turn artist into a brand and not many have pulled that off successfully. 5. This is not really a condition for your point and not even a point. 6. Generally rights are not sold, publishing right are sold to the publisher for a certain number of years and after that time is up the author is free to go make a deal with another publisher or self publish it or what ever they desire.