[linux-audio-user] Announcing Gnomoradio

[Daniel James]

> I
> only have a problem with the "non-commercial only" part of some
> licenses (I think, it's only one of the CC licenses), because this
> like "pollutes the environment", that CC also tries to create.

I'm not sure that it does damage the commons. For professional artists 
to contribute to the commons, there has to be a safeguard against 
loss of livelihood.

Bear in mind that reserving the right of commercial exploitation for 
yourself doesn't mean that work can't be commercially distributed - 
it just means a prospective commercial distributor would have to have 
the artists' blessing to do it, and I don't see what's wrong with 
that.

I don't think any musician (professional or otherwise) would put out a 
CD if they knew a commercial rival - who hadn't put a cent into 
artist wages or album production - could duplicate that CD 
legitimately and sell it at a lower price in the same market, perhaps 
with better distribution.

Even independent releases by amateur artists have to be paid for, and 
just imagine how upset you'd be if your CD became popular and some 
label that didn't care about your music made a lot of money on it, 
while you couldn't even afford to record a follow-up.

If musicians had been able to preserve this right for themselves, 
instead of signing it over to labels, then maybe the record industry 
would have been very different. I believe the opera singer Caruso, 
who was one of the very first musicans to record, was able to 
negotiate a deal where he would get a 10% of retail royalty. I've 
heard the standard these days is more like 12% of wholesale before 
deductions - so much for a hundred years of progress!

Cheers

Daniel