Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

cc-sampling - [cc-sampling] Artistic Freedom Voucher

cc-sampling AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Development of the Creative Commons Sampling license (or license option)

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: mark / negativland <markhosler AT charter.net>
  • To: cc-sampling AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [cc-sampling] Artistic Freedom Voucher
  • Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 13:54:31 -0800

This was just sent to me...an interesting and optimistic idea!

mark




“The Artistic Freedom Voucher:
Internet Age Alternative to Copyrights”
by Dean Baker

The Center for Economic and Policy Research would like to announce the release of a research paper entitled “The Artistic Freedom Voucher: Internet Age Alternative to Copyrights” by economist and co-director Dean Baker. The Artistic Freedom Voucher (AFV) is an efficient, realistic alternative to an antiquated copyright system that cannot keep up with the Internet Age; the AFV could potentially revolutionize the way in which creative artists fund their work. Please find the executive summary and links to the full papers included below.

Copyrights and the AFV are alternative ways in which the government can support creative workers. The AFV is an alternative designed to maximize the power of individual choice, while working with the full potential of technology. Whereas the copyright system provides a state-enforced monopoly leading to enormous costs, inefficiencies and enforcement problems, the AFV provides a voucher system for creative workers that would lead to savings to consumers, taxpayers and the government. Lower advertising costs, an end to police or FBI crackdowns on students downloading music, and less monitoring by internet service providers of their customers are just a few examples of savings from the AFV system.

To summarize briefly, the AFV would allow each adult to contribute a refundable tax credit to a creative worker of their choice. For example, a $100 voucher per adult could provide 500,000 creative workers a salary of $40,000 a year. Recipients of AFV funding (artists, writers, musicians, singers, actors, etc.) would then provide their creative work to the public without a copyright monopoly, where the public could exchange, download, reproduce and enjoy the creative work legally, efficiently and inexpensively. The AFV would still allow for a musician to receive money for live concerts, an actor for performing in a play, or a writer for speaking at a university. The AFV is designed to provide a realistic alternative to copyrights that takes the reality of evolving technology into account.

The full paper is available at: http://www.cepr.net/AFV.htm

Or in PDF format at: http://www.cepr.net/Afv.pdf



Please feel free to contact Dr. Dean Baker at baker AT cepr.net or (202) 293-5380 ext. 229 with your questions or feedback. If you are interested in scheduling a talk or citing his paper, please contact Marya Murray Díaz at murraydiaz AT cepr.net.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research is an independent, nonpartisan think tank that was established to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives.

1621 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-293-5380 | Fax: 202-588-1356 | www.cepr.net | cepr AT cepr.net

Executive Summary

The institution of copyrights has its origins in the feudal guild system. Copyrights provide an incentive for creative or artistic work by providing a state-enforced monopoly. Like any other monopoly, this system leads to enormous inefficiencies, and creates substantial enforcement problems. The size of these inefficiencies and the extent of the enforcement problems have increased dramatically in the Internet Age, as digital technology allows for the costless reproduction of written material, and recorded music and video material.

The artistic freedom voucher (AFV) is an alternative mechanism for supporting creative and artistic work. It is designed to maximize the extent of individual choice, while taking full advantage of the potential created by new technology.

The AFV would allow each individual to contribute a refundable tax credit of approximately $100 to a creative worker of their choice, or to an intermediary who passes funds along to creative workers. Recipients of the AFV (creative workers and intermediaries) would be required to register with the government in the same way that religious or charitable organizations must now register for tax-exempt status. This registration is only for the purpose of preventing fraud - it does not involve any evaluation of the quality of the work being produced.

In exchange for receiving AFV support, creative workers would be ineligible for copyright protection for a significant period of time (e.g. five years). Copyrights and the AFV are alternative ways in which the government supports creative workers. Creative workers are entitled to be compensated once for their work, not twice. The AFV would not affect a creative workers ability to receive money for concerts or other live performances.

The AFV would create a vast amount of uncopyrighted material. A $100 per adult voucher would be sufficient to pay 500,000 writers, musicians, singers, actors, or other creative workers $40,000 a year. All of the material produced by these workers would be placed in the public domain where it could be freely reproduced.

Under plausible assumptions, the savings from reduced expenditures on copyrighted material would vastly exceed the cost of the AFV. Much of this savings would be the direct result of individuals' decisions to use AFV supported music, movies, writings and other creative work in place of copyright-protected work. A second source of savings would be the result of lower advertising costs, since much of the material used in advertising supported media would be in the public domain.

In contrast to copyright protection, which requires restrictions on the use of digital technology, the AFV would allow for the full potential of this technology to be realized. Creative workers would benefit most when their material was as widely distributed as possible. They would therefore have incentives to promote technologies that allow for recorded music, video, and written material to be transferred as easily as possible. By contrast, copyright enforcement is demanding ever greater levels of repression (e.g. restriction on publishing software codes, tracking computer use, and getting records from Internet service providers) in order to prevent the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material. The police crackdowns on unauthorized copying by college students, and even elementary school kids, would be completely unnecessary for work supported by the AFV.


Marya Murray Diaz
Outreach Coordinator
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1621 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 500
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 293-5380 ext. 208
fax: (202) 588-1356
murraydiaz AT cepr.net




_______________________________________________
Map mailing list
Map AT main.nc.us
http://main.nc.us/mailman/listinfo/map

--
_______________________________________________________
*******************************************************

HEY!! LOOKEE!! Please note my new e-mail address that I am writing to you from -

mark / negativland <markhosler AT charter.net>


My old address at attbi.com is no longer being used.



  • [cc-sampling] Artistic Freedom Voucher, mark / negativland, 11/25/2003

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page