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Posted on 08/25/2012 2:29:45 PM PDT by grundle
Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more complicated.
And one’s heirs stand to lose huge sums of money. “I find it hard to imagine a situation where a family would be OK with losing a collection of 10,000 books and songs,” says Evan Carroll, co-author of “Your Digital Afterlife.” “Legally dividing one account among several heirs would also be extremely difficult.”
Part of the problem is that with digital content, one doesn’t have the same rights as with print books and CDs. Customers own a license to use the digital files—but they don’t actually own them.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Interesting. I’ve downloaded 4 audiobooks/month for over ten years. (I drive a lot, 1 to 2 thousand mi/wk, for the company that employs me). I never considered the implications of ownership after I pass. Still don’t for that matter. I can just give my login and passwords to whomever I choose.
This is like complaining about not keeping a rental apartment. All it takes is a quick review of the 80 page iTunes license agreement.
Easy to see how a higly advanced civilization could die and after 10,000 years leave no trace other than monoliths.
Sure. From a technical point of view, you are correct - your login and password will do the job. It’s from a legal point of view that there is uncertainty. Of course I seriously doubt the owner of the copyright would ever press charges - it would seem cruel and make for bad publicity. Of course that never stopped government bureaucrats. Besides, my relatives already own their own copies of the books and music they like anyway. It does make for an interesting kind of thought experiment.
Easy to see how a higly advanced civilization could die and after 10,000 years leave no trace other than monoliths.
We need online fossilization — or fossils in the clouds.
Your comparison to a lease on an apartment is somewhat accurate, in that the contract states the terms clearly. However, with an apartment, if an heir holds on to it, that prevents someone else from getting it, whereas with digital property, that is not the case, as there is no limit to how many times something can be copied, as the cost of copying is approximately zero.
I know - it would be so sad if all the great works of literature and music were lost, because there were no physical copies. Personally, I like the idea of holding something in my hands, putting it on a shelf, and reading a physical book.
That didn't stop them from crushing some poor college schmucks in the early days of Napster. Most boomers are in the latter 1/4 to 1/3 of their lives. When you have millions or even billions of copies of digital assets running around, it will be an issue.
Easy to see how a highly advanced civilization could die and after 10,000 years leave no trace other than monoliths.
That’s a great idea for a novel. I am going to put it in my future novel ideas folder. If I die it goes away too I suppose...
Let me get this straight. I don’t buy a copy of a song or a movie — I just license the intellectual property. So, when I upgrade from VHS to DVD, the licensor provides me with new media? If my tape of book wears out, the licensor sends me a new copy? Once I license a movie or song, I can play a digital copy? No? I have to pay again for the same IP if I want to experience it on different devices? I have to pay extra if I want a digital copy plus the optical media? The IP crowd wants it both ways. They have the money to influence lawmakers to legislate and enforce their will. Unfortunately for them, entertainment is not a necessity. Simply do not patronize the IP barons. When they get hungry, we can negotiate more reasonable terms.
Carve your words into the side of a mountain, in letters six inches deep.
I have an album that I bought as an 8trac, a cassette and a cd. Waylon is dead now. I ain’t paying again. I won’t sell them but I will make as many copies for my own use as I see fit
I'd bet that short sweet 80+ page "license agreement" has something to say about the legality of making copies.
A la Douglas Adams?
This really is an intriguing idea, I am just starting a series and I can see where this might be an idea to explore in three or maybe four novels. Ancient Monolithic Data Storage... A hidden history of Humanity...
...this is precisely why I refuse to play their game.
iTunes? Forget it. Unless I can download a fully unlocked file and copy it freely amongst all of the devices I own, with NO copy protection WHATSOEVER getting in the way, we aren’t doing business. I will gladly do without the “content providers”’ product if/when it becomes necessary.
‘Inheritance’ of music, video, and books across multiple generations wouldn’t be such an issue if Congress did not keep extending all copyrights indefinitely. If I live to a ripe old age, then it is likely that the artists/authors who originally created much of music, book and movie collection would have long since passed away. Once upon a time, their work would have passed into the public domain after a reasonable period of time.
The purpose of granting a copyright is to give the original creator of the work a reasonable opportunity to benefit from that work. After a reasonable period of time, the work was to pass into the public domain so that others could build on the work. This recognized the fact that most stories and music borrow heavily from ideas that came before.
Beginning in the 1970s, in response to heavy lobbying from Disney and other entertainment corporations, Congress began extending length of Copyrights to longer and longer terms. As a result, Disney (which based their films on stories like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty which were in the public domain) has been able to claim that the idea of a brunette Snow White is their ‘Intellectual Property’ and sue any competitors into submission.
I think the current duration of most copyrights is now 95 years after release of the work. Within the next few years, Disney and others will begin lobbying to extend the copyright further (the trigger event for Disney is when copyrights on the first Mickey Mouse films expire).
At some point, Congress needs to say that enough is enough and let works pass into the public domain.
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