How much to pay the author?
I came across a post where the topic was discussed as in the title of my post. I wanted to add a comment, but the term ended there (what? Voting? Commenting?) - in short, I did not have enough qualifications to understand why there is no “add a comment” link, I decided to write my post, to present a point of view.
What is obvious is that now in publishing we are experiencing a period of “phase change”, “paradigm shift” or something similar, which in the next 5-8 years (maybe faster) will lead to serious qualitative changes. Both in technology of creation of books, and in questions of monetization of it. Therefore, it is impossible to predict with confidence that “it will be like this”. I just want to state here what was in my head. As an option for possible improvements, not more.
The first thing that is not right today is that today, 95% of intermediaries-holders of overbought property copyrights make a profit from publishing content, and the authors themselves feed on crumbs in 3-5% of the cost of circulation, while considering these conditions, alas, for yourself acceptable. It is clear that in these conditions the monopolies of publishers and the high profitability of this business of so-called legislation. civilized states do not protect the rights of the authors, and copyright holders. By virtue of this, it would be more appropriate to call the “author's” right “proprietary” or “intermediary”.
Given the widespread distribution of books on electronic channels, the future of "paper" publishers seems pessimistic. Personally, I really have not bought paper books for five years. But, to my shame, I did not pay for electronic copies in those years either. It is painfully available free options. I understand that this is not a gut, so I began to think about this question and read about it.
')
To begin with, he accepted as an axiom that all labor demanded by society should have chances to be paid. No one needs work for this axiom, the day is clear, it does not fit.
In market economies, the degree of demand for a product is determined by the ratio of supply and demand. From this ratio, the price of the product is generated. We do not lose sight of the issues of advertising, promotion and other marketing activities that adjoin here. Who wants to sell, he does it all.
Now about the product of writing. What does a writer sell? Texts in which from invested their experience, knowledge, talent. The more of this, the more a priori the text is more valuable. And how much is this work worth?
Let's try to speculate with analogies. Here is the great Michelangelo sculpted his "David" for a number of years and months. What is the cost of his and his apprentices labor during this period? Stupidly-primitive multiplication of the amount of time for (excuse me) “hourly rate” will give some amount, which is a pure abstraction that has nothing to do with real life. It is clear that Michelangelo received an order for this statue from his patron, the Duke of Sforza. Sforza paid an advance, quite decent, and M-and spent this money on materials, and grub, and other vital needs, but he (and no one else) did not believe that this is the whole payment for hard work, creative torments, sleepless nights, etc. The real payment happened later, when the masterpiece was made public, applause thundered (and even mostly addressed to the duke, not the author; o tempo! O Mores!) And then Sforza, the ruler, in his own fair way, fell off to the genius how much he was not sorry. I will not say for sure, but in books they write that is enough.
As we see, the creative worker did the work for the order and received enough money from the customer to live a good long time. Did Michelangelo get paid for David after that ? It is known that no. As a fee for the work did not receive. But the glory for the masterpiece is with him forever. And we call it today "copyright law". What about the money? And nothing. After the final payment, the creation became, again in today's fashion, “an object of national wealth”. Come to Florence, admire for free.
The money paid by the customer for the order expressed at that time the ratio of supply and demand of this masterpiece in the realities of the 16th (16th?), I do not remember exactly) century. The distance between the creator and the buyer is zero. No tenders, no kickbacks. (I'm afraid to suggest what would have happened if the question “how much to pay” was given by a naive Sforza at the mercy of, say, his deputy for statues, or whoever he had there ... It would definitely be half the price for the duke ...)
I come to the point.
It is necessary to pay for labor, and not for the name.
You have to pay directly to the author, not to the right holder.
You have to pay while the goods are bought. And sales are falling below the critical level - we hang a “national wealth” tag on the product and read to the health of anyone you want as much as you want.
As the Americans say "sounds great". To achieve this - how?
Well, here is a book or other Intel property. How to distribute? - A good solution expressed by many is access to the book not as a thing or a file, but as a service. But to make access services of the type "reader - creator." Publishers of paper copies can opt for Print-on-Demand - printing quality elite copies on order. Who needs and who is able to pay.
How to cut off torrent piracy? Piracy will not be if the profitability of downloading through
torrent and when the temptation to get free is gone. Well, about the benefits already mentioned. The fee directly to the author reduces the fee in order. And second, you need to keep statistics on the need for downloading.
Download price is correlated with the frequency of requests. Many want to give more expensive, demand has fallen - the price is down. There is no demand - the status of "nat heritage" after the quarantine period. Further free. And the writer - what? Like everyone. Write a new work or live on savings. The current situation, enshrined in law, when the work is “milked” almost for centuries, reflects the interests of not the readers, not the society as a whole, but the interests of only monopolistic righters. Change the laws necessary. It is necessary, not "people for the law", but "law for people".
As for payment, I will say this. It is necessary for Internet customers to start electronic accounts of non-cash payments for Network services, transparent and verifiable. To pay money there unconditionally as, say, 2-3% of a payment to the provider for the Network. And any incoming traffic from the tracker. or not from the tracker, repay from these accounts as mobile communication is paid for now - by debiting from the account. And this money will turn out like VAT in macroeconomics, everything was gradually paid to everyone. And there will be no moral torment - to pay 30 cents to the online store for the track, or to bravely scour the web, basically looking for a freebie. If the entrance to your Internet port still has the same 30 cents for content, what's the point of stealing?
I do not say that the suggestions made are ready-made solutions to all problems. Here to work and work. But if you don’t think at all in any direction, then nothing comes up. So today I think so.
What is obvious is that now in publishing we are experiencing a period of “phase change”, “paradigm shift” or something similar, which in the next 5-8 years (maybe faster) will lead to serious qualitative changes. Both in technology of creation of books, and in questions of monetization of it. Therefore, it is impossible to predict with confidence that “it will be like this”. I just want to state here what was in my head. As an option for possible improvements, not more.
The first thing that is not right today is that today, 95% of intermediaries-holders of overbought property copyrights make a profit from publishing content, and the authors themselves feed on crumbs in 3-5% of the cost of circulation, while considering these conditions, alas, for yourself acceptable. It is clear that in these conditions the monopolies of publishers and the high profitability of this business of so-called legislation. civilized states do not protect the rights of the authors, and copyright holders. By virtue of this, it would be more appropriate to call the “author's” right “proprietary” or “intermediary”.
Given the widespread distribution of books on electronic channels, the future of "paper" publishers seems pessimistic. Personally, I really have not bought paper books for five years. But, to my shame, I did not pay for electronic copies in those years either. It is painfully available free options. I understand that this is not a gut, so I began to think about this question and read about it.
')
To begin with, he accepted as an axiom that all labor demanded by society should have chances to be paid. No one needs work for this axiom, the day is clear, it does not fit.
In market economies, the degree of demand for a product is determined by the ratio of supply and demand. From this ratio, the price of the product is generated. We do not lose sight of the issues of advertising, promotion and other marketing activities that adjoin here. Who wants to sell, he does it all.
Now about the product of writing. What does a writer sell? Texts in which from invested their experience, knowledge, talent. The more of this, the more a priori the text is more valuable. And how much is this work worth?
Let's try to speculate with analogies. Here is the great Michelangelo sculpted his "David" for a number of years and months. What is the cost of his and his apprentices labor during this period? Stupidly-primitive multiplication of the amount of time for (excuse me) “hourly rate” will give some amount, which is a pure abstraction that has nothing to do with real life. It is clear that Michelangelo received an order for this statue from his patron, the Duke of Sforza. Sforza paid an advance, quite decent, and M-and spent this money on materials, and grub, and other vital needs, but he (and no one else) did not believe that this is the whole payment for hard work, creative torments, sleepless nights, etc. The real payment happened later, when the masterpiece was made public, applause thundered (and even mostly addressed to the duke, not the author; o tempo! O Mores!) And then Sforza, the ruler, in his own fair way, fell off to the genius how much he was not sorry. I will not say for sure, but in books they write that is enough.
As we see, the creative worker did the work for the order and received enough money from the customer to live a good long time. Did Michelangelo get paid for David after that ? It is known that no. As a fee for the work did not receive. But the glory for the masterpiece is with him forever. And we call it today "copyright law". What about the money? And nothing. After the final payment, the creation became, again in today's fashion, “an object of national wealth”. Come to Florence, admire for free.
The money paid by the customer for the order expressed at that time the ratio of supply and demand of this masterpiece in the realities of the 16th (16th?), I do not remember exactly) century. The distance between the creator and the buyer is zero. No tenders, no kickbacks. (I'm afraid to suggest what would have happened if the question “how much to pay” was given by a naive Sforza at the mercy of, say, his deputy for statues, or whoever he had there ... It would definitely be half the price for the duke ...)
I come to the point.
It is necessary to pay for labor, and not for the name.
You have to pay directly to the author, not to the right holder.
You have to pay while the goods are bought. And sales are falling below the critical level - we hang a “national wealth” tag on the product and read to the health of anyone you want as much as you want.
As the Americans say "sounds great". To achieve this - how?
Well, here is a book or other Intel property. How to distribute? - A good solution expressed by many is access to the book not as a thing or a file, but as a service. But to make access services of the type "reader - creator." Publishers of paper copies can opt for Print-on-Demand - printing quality elite copies on order. Who needs and who is able to pay.
How to cut off torrent piracy? Piracy will not be if the profitability of downloading through
torrent and when the temptation to get free is gone. Well, about the benefits already mentioned. The fee directly to the author reduces the fee in order. And second, you need to keep statistics on the need for downloading.
Download price is correlated with the frequency of requests. Many want to give more expensive, demand has fallen - the price is down. There is no demand - the status of "nat heritage" after the quarantine period. Further free. And the writer - what? Like everyone. Write a new work or live on savings. The current situation, enshrined in law, when the work is “milked” almost for centuries, reflects the interests of not the readers, not the society as a whole, but the interests of only monopolistic righters. Change the laws necessary. It is necessary, not "people for the law", but "law for people".
As for payment, I will say this. It is necessary for Internet customers to start electronic accounts of non-cash payments for Network services, transparent and verifiable. To pay money there unconditionally as, say, 2-3% of a payment to the provider for the Network. And any incoming traffic from the tracker. or not from the tracker, repay from these accounts as mobile communication is paid for now - by debiting from the account. And this money will turn out like VAT in macroeconomics, everything was gradually paid to everyone. And there will be no moral torment - to pay 30 cents to the online store for the track, or to bravely scour the web, basically looking for a freebie. If the entrance to your Internet port still has the same 30 cents for content, what's the point of stealing?
I do not say that the suggestions made are ready-made solutions to all problems. Here to work and work. But if you don’t think at all in any direction, then nothing comes up. So today I think so.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/147984/
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