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

Re: Artists' profit from copyrights

Author:Brian Makuch
Posted:9/5/2000; 1:54:53 PM
Topic:Artists' profit from copyrights
Msg #:20885 (In response to 20866)
Prev/Next:20884 / 20886

I don't think there is an answer to your question. Copyright is only a legal protection granted to the creator of a unique expression. By itself, there is no money directly involved.

You could argue that all of their income is based on the legal protection that copyright provides. Without protection, the creation loses all economic value quickly after it's initial release.

If you're looking for the artist's percentage of the retail price, that would be difficult to pinpoint as well. I'm sure their is an industry standard percentage at the entry level, but people like Stephen King do not take any money up front in exchange for a much higher percentage.

You'll also find that novelists and recording artists are different in that novelists usually own the copyright to their work. Recording artists typically do not and some are even forced to shoulder the marketing costs of the label in promoting their work.




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