[pp.int.general] cultural flatrate: PP position?

[Reinier Bakels]

> Mmmh. BUMA/STEMRA takes only 3% of their money (unless they waste further 
> 7% at the stock market...) In germany the share of the GEMA lies at 13%. 
> Each year...
> So I think you are having a pretty well organized structure.
There were (are) specific problems with blank media levies.
>
> Flatrates are in my point of view, a good tradeoff between the abolishing 
> of private copies and a total removing of copyrights. And we need 
> copyrights! Otherwise free licences are loosing their base. It's the 
> creator who decides, what GPL or CC means. If to take him this right, his 
> work might be taken by someone else, enhance it and make it "unfree". For 
> music this will be no big problem. CC artists them can try to sue Sony/BMG 
> if their work is reused withoud permission. What what about free software 
> like linux?

Your comment is appropriate, but you confuse two things.

1. Yes, an essential aspect of copyright is that the author can decide how 
his work is used. But this very right is undermined by the assumption 
underlying (most?) collective rights systems: they assume 1) that the author 
wants to exploit his work 2) for money. But it is fondamental to copyright 
that the author is entitled to say: my work is *not* exploited and even 
*not* published (again).
2. The remuneration scheme. Flatrates, Pauschalvergütungen, levies they are 
all actually taxes. Any attempt for just "algorithmic" collection and 
redistribution rules is bound to fail - so they are essentially taxes - that 
should be used only to remedy market failure.

How to reconsile the two? Well, I don't have the Endlösung either.

reinier