Both the Baron's and Geo's ideas below sound like they'd be great steps in the right direction, to me. They don't really address piracy, though, just other corporate abuses.
PvK
Quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
quote:
Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
A real solution to the 'making a living' problem for artists of all stripes would be to set legal limits for the percentage of price for a copyrighted work that a corporate 'distributor' could take. Thus guaranteeing the 'original creator' a certain portion of his earnings.
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Well, I have a personal problem with any sort of mandated price limits.
I think a better alternative would be simply to make all these types of contracts illegal. The artist/author should retain complete control of the rights to their work. They should be allowed to enter into agreements with a publisher/distributor/marketer, but have the legal right to recind the agreement at ANY TIME and go somewhere else. An artist could negotiate a deal like this now, and some of the well established stars do. But new artists don't get deals like this because they need the company at first more then the company needs them. Because of this unequal position the company can make unreasonable demands and if the artist doesn't like it they can go back to stocking shelves at the A&P and the company will just find another artist that will sign on the dotted line.
If all these type deals were illegal the company would lose that leverage. They would be forced to actually work for the artist instead of the other way around.
Not setting price limits would allow a new artist to get their foot in the door easier. They could take a pittance at first to gain access to the marketing, distribution channels. They would be taking the risk on their own talent that they think they have. It's the definition of entrepreneurism. Then once they become established they would be free to renegotiate their deal at any time.
Geoschmo