this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2024
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Death to IP.
Capitalist "innovation" in a nutshell.
Oof is this complicated. Yes, but no.
If there is no IP then why would you bother creating or inventing?
On the other hand, Disney extended the timeline of copyrights beyond reason.
Edit: I understand not everyone needs monetary rewards to create something, however I think there are a lot of things that without the monetary reward would not exist.
Do you like video games? Everyone here seems to think we can just copy the files without any harm to anyone. But if all games were free, what sort of games would be created? If game companies stood to make no money, why would they bother with such a large production? Why would Nintendo bother being Nintendo?
It's not that video games wouldn't exist without the IP, it's that without the monetary reward there wouldn't be such a drive over such an extended period of time. But maybe we only need indie games and no one here has ever enjoyed AAA games. That's fair, if true.
I'm a games industry professional. I would continue to do this work as an unpaid job if my basic needs were met on a societal level.
You think you're asking a neutral question, but you're not. Companies operating within capitalism will behave in the interests of capitalists. IP laws aren't required for the AAA studios other than to domineer control over an idea. A game like Call of Duty is a titan made by 1000s of professionals. One of those games gets launched every year. By shear force of momentum, there are very few companies that could ever replicate it in any fashion.
Now imagine if COD was made by a company in which IP didn't exist, all the profits went to the workers rather than shareholders, and that the workers have a say in the launch schedule. Would you be willing to pay for a game in that instance?
I don't follow. How would no IP give more money to the workers? How would no IP change how the company was run?
I'm not arguing IP here, I just seems to me that you are mixing two different things. You can have a employee owned company and still have IP.
Or am I missing something obvious?
I think their point is that if the people making the games were given fair compensation that they would be more willing to sacrifice IP rights.
I don't see what makes them think that other than their own personal feelings on the matter, but I think that's the message.
That couldn't have been the point.
Companies use (read: abuse) IP to keep an artificial, government-sanctioned monopoly they use to extract money from users. Add to that skins, microtransactions, lootboxes, yearly releases and all the other vilest shit you can find in a modern videogame and you'll see it isn't about the studio staying afloat - it's abuit the publisher raking in the $$$.
People who are creatives take it as a point of pride when their work is spread, remade and remixed. What they do not like is if that remaking and remixing is done by a soulless company in the vilest and most soulless way to generate profits. Oh, and except for thise with the best deals, IP stays with the company.
It's not about cratives "not being paid enough" so they need IP protection - it's the very same companies whose IP is protected who don't pay their workers enough. IP doesn't bring money to workers directly nor does it protect workers from anything since again - the IPs are owned by the studio/publisher.
Call it "personal feelings", but it's how the world works.
More people would be able to innovate on said "non IP". Multiple lines could be developed by multiple independent teams, extending the non ip however they see fit. By encouraging competition, the better content would thrive.
It lowers the barrier of entry, enforcing competition and lowering distribution cost. And without the ludicrous profit margins and legal overhead from big conglomerates, it would be cheaper for the consumers, and more of the fees could be distributed to the actual people working on the creation.
This is prettyranty, sorry if it's not too clearly articulated.