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We've become so used to treating digital content like physical goods that we've forgotten how different the two really are and how unsustainable that business model really is. In this talk, EPAM Empathy Lab content strategist and Developing Philly co-creator David Dylan Thomas suggests new directions for content consumption and compensation that respect the fundamental nature of content today. Questions Answered: - Why can't we just treat digital content like physical content? - What are some new options for compensating content creators? - What does it mean to live in a post-ownership economy?
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@movie_pundit
Content as a Service: Artificial Scarcity and the Post-Ownership
Economy
David Dylan Thomas
Capitol Records Complaint
“ReDigi makes and assists its users in making systematic, repeated and unauthorized reproductions and distributions of Plaintiffs copyrighted sound recordings.”
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
“Digital Files Are Not Material Objects Subject to the Distribution Right”
“The statute is quite plain. It is clear that digital music files, which are not material objects, are therefore neither copies nor phonorecords, hence not subject to the distribution right. If they were to be considered material objects, copies, or phonorecords within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. 106(3), they would also have to be considered material objects, copies, or phonorecords within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. 109(a), hence exempt anyway – in ReDigi’s case – under the First Sale Doctrine (discussed infra).”
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Is This True?
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
No Dice, Grandma
“It is beside the point that the original phonorecord no longer exists. It matters only that a new phonorecord has been created.”
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
What the Hell Is a “Phonorecord”?
“…material objects in which sounds, other than those accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, are fixed.”
-United States Copyright Act of 1976
(yup, 1976)
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
No Dice, Grandma
“It is beside the point that the original phonorecord no longer exists. It matters only that a new phonorecord has been created.”
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Illegal Copy
How to Resell Your MP3’s
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
How to Resell Your MP3’s
All you have to do is sell your “ 'particular' phonorecord, be it a computer hard disk, iPod, or other memory device onto which the file was originally downloaded.”
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
How we pay for a thing is tied to how we think about that thing.
Desirable + Scarce = Expensive
Desirable + Common = Cheap
Desirable + Scarce = Expensive
Desirable + Common = Cheap
Desirable + Infinitely Replicable = ???
Artificial Scarcity
Artificial Scarcity
This. Breaks. Easily.
Record companies want you to treat digital goods like physical goods, until they don’t.
Publishing Is Next
Why Licensing Won’t Work
The Way We Think About Content ≠ How We Pay for It
(Judge punts on this…)
Why can’t you sell a used MP3?
Why can’t you sell a used MP3?
Because there is no such thing!
Even These Children Figured It Out
“Physical copies of works degrade with time and use, making used copies less desirable than new ones. Digital information does not degrade, and can be reproduced perfectly on a recipient’s computer. The ‘used’ copy is just as desirable as (in fact, is indistinguishable from) a new copy of the same work. Time, space, effort and cost no longer act as barriers to the movement of copies, since digital copies can be transmitted nearly instantaneously anywhere in the world with minimal effort and negligible cost. The need to transport physical copies of works, which acts as a natural brake on the effect of resales on the copyright owner’s market, no longer exists in the realm of digital transmissions.”
- U.S. Copyright Office Report to Congress, 2001
Entropy is what keeps the physical market afloat.
In digital content, the idea of an “original” and a “copy” ceases to exist,
and we don’t have an economy for that.
In digital content, the idea of an “original” and a “copy” ceases to exist,
and we don’t have an economy for that.
(But we do have a way to think about it….)
3 Kinds of Sharing
3 Kinds of Sharing
3 Kinds of Sharing
3 Kinds of Sharing
3 Kinds of Sharing
3 Kinds of Sharing
Content = Information
• It doesn’t just represent information
• It doesn’t just contain information
• It doesn’t just point to information
• It is itself information
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Is there a way to think about monetizing content that aligns with
its fundamental nature?
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Content as a Service
This Is Not Scarce This Is
Goods Are Going Away
Goods Are Going Away
Someone in Power Actually Said This…
"We just don't think that ownership will be around in the future."
- Richard Wellerstein, VP, Content Acquisition, AT&T
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Access Over Ownership
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Consumption Today
• Things magically appear when I need them.
• They go away when I don’t.
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
Producing Ownership Is Expensive
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
No, really, goods are going away.
There is no ONE approach,
but here is AN approach…
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
It is a future of agile solutions, not inflexible ones.
Content as a Service
This Is Not Scarce This Is
Crowdsourced Patronage
Crowdsourced Patronage
Crowdsourced Patronage
Crowdsourced Patronage
Spoken Reasons has 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Spoken Reasons has 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.
If only 5% of them agreed to give him $1 a month, he would make $600,000 a year.
Spoken Reasons has 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.
If only 5% of them agreed to give him $1 a month, he would make $600,000 a year.
He doesn’t need Hollywood…
Spoken Reasons has 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.
If only 5% of them agreed to give him $1 a month, he would make $600,000 a year.
He doesn’t need Hollywood… …Hollywood needs him.
For the artist…
…crowdfunding is about not .
For the audience…
…crowdfunding is about not .
Artist Audience
Producer/DistributorFinal Cut
Gatekeeping
Pricing
Centralized Risk
Artist Audience
Platform
Final Cut Gatekeeping
Pricing
Distributed Risk
Not for everyone.
Creative Middle Class
Guess what costs $7 million?
Guess what costs $7 million?
The Hybrid Approach
The Hybrid Approach
The Hybrid Approach
Post-Ownership Economy
• Focus on artist, not art.
• Focus on audience, not distributor.
• Focus on passion, not product.
• Focus on access, not possession.
• Focus on relationship, not transaction.
David Dylan Thomas @movie_pundit
David Dylan Thomas
@movie_pundit
www.daviddylanthomas.com