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Copyright and the digital age: a contradictio in terminis
This improved financial position makes it possible for cultural enterprises to cover
the unavoidable losses from some of their artists. In no imaginable situation will
every artist reach the point of break-even. There are always risks involved. Under the
new conditions a substantial variety of medium-sized and small cultural enterprises
can exist in a profitable way, and can pay their artists a reasonable amount of money.
From a cultural and an economic viewpoint this is a more than welcome
development. Apparently, a vibrant cultural world can exist without the copyright
system, but under the strict condition that there are no market-dominating forces.
At the same time, we should be realistic. It will never be the case that all artists can
make a living from their efforts, and sometimes this is not related at all to the quality
of their works. This is a centuries old phenomenon. There is always more supply than
demand, and the development of taste in cultural markets is a rather volatile process.
This reality will not be “outlawed” by the introduction of new, fairer market relations.
It must be feared – or enjoyed? – that through digitization and the Internet the number
of active artists may even grow.
For them it is hard work to find audiences, but that is no different from the huge
efforts that artists had to make to be visible in the old analogue world. Beside
YouTube and MySpace, there are new digital platforms and sites developing that
specialize in selected kinds of music or films, for instance. Artists try to get the
support of friends and aficionados, who contribute, financially, to the production of
certain works. Such kinds of direct relations are something we will see growing.
Artists and their medium-sized and small entrepreneurs are developing new business
models. For instance in the field of music, the concert will become the most important
money earner. The CD will still exist and it will be promoted or sold after concerts, in
specialized networks and/or on the Internet. There, people who love the work of this
specific musician will pay accordingly. Why not, if you feel attached to this specific
musician? It is of the utmost importance that a research institute should take upon
itself the task of investigating what different kinds of new business models are
developing. Such an exploration would be fascinating in the first place, but most of all
of great use for the free development of the arts in the digital domains. Now is the
chance, with digitization, to get rid of the dominating control by cultural industries of
our cultural landscapes. Let us not lose this momentum!
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