December 7, 2004

A wider range of views  

I don't know if this was the first major survey of artists about their views on internet file sharing, but the article certainly reads that way. It's kind of incredible that it would take this long for anyone to think of examining artists' views, given that the apocalyptic battle between consumers and the industry is being fought over their creative output.

But what's striking about the survey results is the open posture artists (filmmakers, writers, digital artists, and musicians were included) seem to have toward sharing. One might expect artists, who surely have the greatest investment in their work, to be jealously protective of their property rights. But overall that doesn't seem to be the case. Is this phenomenon about a progressive notion of intellectual property among artists, or is it just a sign of their sobriety about their chances for financial success?

Maybe it would be instructive to think about a veil of ignorance here -- after all, it's only a small group of artists who find commercial success, and the result above suggests that it's not the chance for astronomical gain that motivates artists' creative output. To my mind (and btw I'm also thinking about this as an artist with work on the market) we should probably be crafting an intellectual property policy that responds to the needs of those who are less successful, rather than more.

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