Re: Net publication of Jewish Music Conference papers, London 2000

[Brian Dichter <dbrian...>]

on 8/2/2000 3:25 PM, Joel Bresler at jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com 
wrote:

> Hi, Elliott. There is little doubt in my mind that Napster, Scour.com, etc.
> as companies and their user communities are breaking the law. But I have to
> respectfully suggest we may be mixing and matching issues here. Whether
> internet users don't understand the idea of intellectual property or not
> does not bear directly on the issue of publishing scholarly papers on the
> internet. The issue of payment is also not at the forefront in this case,
> because I don't think any of the conference participants expect to be
> compensated for their work (at least, I don't) and I don't expect the LICJM
> to ever do much more than cover their costs on any print versions.
"Little doubt" in YOUR mind...Napster, etc. is merely a tool for accessing
electronic files. True, many people are, probably, abusing this tool by
illegally reproducing and distributing copies of files. However, there are
certainly a number of individuals who are trading files legally. Is it
accurate to make such an overgeneralization about the action of all the
"companies and their user communities"? Methods for distributing media today
are changing rapidly--it's very easy to provide digital versions of
practically anything and distribute them over networks instantly. Perhaps
there needs to be a change in the way creators are compensated to account
for this. It's now possible to revolutionize the distribution process in
such a way that artists, authors and other creative individuals will
ultimately benefit more than the Publishers and Recording companies, for
example, have benefited in the past. In other words, with these new
electronic processes, individuals are free to distribute their works
themselves earning more for their work.

technologically-optimistic,
brian
-- 
"I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but most of
all from my pupils." --Maimonides

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+