Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Methods of Compensation for Ethereal Creations

Author:William Crim
Posted:9/1/2000; 4:42:16 AM
Topic:The Lie of "IP"
Msg #:20658 (In response to 20656)
Prev/Next:20657 / 20659

Scarcity is a function of supply and demand. Ask a parent looking for the latest Furby/Elmo/PowerRanger on Christmas Eve if scarcity is false. :-)

Since non-physical items can be duplicated at essentially no cost once they are released, future producers of Ethereal Creations(Intellectual Property) have several choices of compensation.

1. Go broke. Strangely enough, this is already a popular one in the artistic community. Go figure.

2. Live off the kindness of strangers. The "tipping" model. This avenue is best pursued by good looking people, as the Average Person tends to tip beautiful people more. I also read a study that said that waitresses who put smiley faces on their bills get a better tip than those who don't. Of course, to counteract the Smiley-Face Voodoo of the waitress crowd, I routinely tip these same waitresses less. That'll teach those little tarts to try their Psycological Warfare on me.

3. Withhold the Ethereal Creation until payment(or contract for payment) is recieved. This is common to most programmers. I certainly won't sit in a cramped cube and write code unless I get $$$. (Now, sitting in front of the computer at home in my underpants drinking a beer, THATS when I will write code for free.)

4. Wealthy Patronage. An ancient and venerable tradition. Princes and Popes have a long history of supporting the arts, including music, painting, architecture, etc. However, I don't think Popes would go for all sorts of Ethereal Creations, like "Hot Wet Goat Porn" pictures. I bet you could find a few Princes to support it though.

5. Sugar Daddy(or Sugar Mama). An avenue traditionally chosen mostly by women in the past, due to lack of other socially acceptable choices. While not typically promoted in these modern times, it certainly can provide the budding artist time and resources to hone their craft. Just look at what it did for Pia Zedora.

6. Communism. State sponsored monopolies that gives the creators of Ethereal Creations(from each according to his ability) just enough money to live on(to each according to their needs), while ramming stale, factory-created fare down the gullet of the working class, and try to pass it off as "art", all the while siphoning off money to support their own, bourgeois lifestyle and place of power. Hmm... This system seems vaguely familiar...

7. Freebie. This is basicly where the creator of the Ethereal Creation does not get, or expect to get, paid. They do it because they like it, and they were going to do it anyway, so they might as well give it as a gift to all, perhaps hoping for returns down the road. Open Source falls into this category. As do all those piss-poor singers in church who assume that screaching hymns like a banshee is going to get them a special spot in Heaven. Little do they know, God is a Paula Cole fan, hates hymns, and they will end up in the special section of Hell reserved for lifelong suck-ups. (Well at least it would be this way if *I* were God.)



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