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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The End of Public Domain?
Dvorak News Blog: Congress may take books, musical compositions and other works out of the public domain, where they can be freely used and adapted, and grant them copyright status again, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
This seems counter productive to the current economic and social climate in the US. There are many institutions like high schools, small theatres and music halls that depend on works in the public domain to survive, because they simply cannot afford to pay the royalties that copyrighted works tend to carry with them. I also think that potentially limiting the public domain would only increase a social stratification that is commonly associated with the arts, and destroy many smaller arts organizations, many of which are non-profits anyway. I know personally that in my high school, public domain works made up a significant portion of our season every year simply because, on a budget of about $500 a show, royalties on a 255-seat theatre for a two show run cut our budget by a significant percentage. I feel that the Supreme Court has made a decision which they do not truly understand the implications of in a theatrical environment.
I agree that it is very impotent for works to remain in the public domain. Allowing works to remain in the public domain makes them available to everyone. It allows the public to experience them. I think that. It is important that arts do not become something that only people with money can experience.
2 comments:
This seems counter productive to the current economic and social climate in the US. There are many institutions like high schools, small theatres and music halls that depend on works in the public domain to survive, because they simply cannot afford to pay the royalties that copyrighted works tend to carry with them. I also think that potentially limiting the public domain would only increase a social stratification that is commonly associated with the arts, and destroy many smaller arts organizations, many of which are non-profits anyway. I know personally that in my high school, public domain works made up a significant portion of our season every year simply because, on a budget of about $500 a show, royalties on a 255-seat theatre for a two show run cut our budget by a significant percentage. I feel that the Supreme Court has made a decision which they do not truly understand the implications of in a theatrical environment.
I agree that it is very impotent for works to remain in the public domain. Allowing works to remain in the public domain makes them available to everyone. It allows the public to experience them. I think that. It is important that arts do not become something that only people with money can experience.
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