Examples of Ways Content Creators Can Profit Without Intellectual Property

I will collect here links to various articles or discussions about how authors, etc. can make money without relying on the copyright monopoly model. Please feel free to email suggestions or add them to the comments; I’ll update this post from time to time.

• “Innovations that Thrive without IP,” StephanKinsella.com (Aug. 9, 2010)
• FDA and Patent Reform: A Modest Proposal
• Francis Ford Coppola, copyfighter
• Without Intellectual Property (MisesWiki) (“How would the world look like without Intellectual Property? What are the current success stories and possible alternatives if some or all forms of IP were repealed (or became unenforceable)?”)
• Conversation with an author about copyright and publishing in a free society
  • Kinsella on Protecting Value and Harry Potter (Youtube) and Kinsella on Music Industry Business Model (Youtube)
• Writers Can Prosper Without Intellectual Property, by Gennady Stolyarov II
• Fantasy author [Brandon Sanderson] raises $19 million on Kickstarter in two days to self-publish new novels (March 3, 2022)
• Techdirt: Author Using Kickstarter To Offer His Book To The Public Domain, And Help Other Creators To Do The Same;
• Unglue.it Sets Books Free After Authors Get Paid;
  • see also Masnick, Amazon Stops Processing Payments For Crowdfunding Platform For Creative Commons Books
• Murakami Releases His Own eBook Without His Publisher
• Techdirt, Reinventing Book Publishing: Building Real Communities, And Only Holding Rights For Three Years
• Unbound: connecting authors to readers to publish books with no middleman
• Mike Masnick, “The Future Of Music Business Models (And Those Who Are Already There) Culture,” Techdirt (Jan. 25, 2010)
  • see also Michael A. Carrier, “Copyright and Innovation: Responses To Marks, Masnick, and Picker,” Wis. L. Rev. Online (2013)
  • Reminder: Big Concerts Are Not All Of The Live Music Business
• Patreon: The Crowdfunding Upstart That’s Turning Freelancers Into Superstars, Wired
  • see also Mike Masnick, Cool New Platform For Supporting Artists: Patreon, From Jack Conte
• Christopher Sprigman on creativity without copyright
• The Creator-Endorsed Mark as an Alternative to Copyright
• Innovation in the gaming business model: Humble Indie Bundle (computer games, music, and software examples)
• How Photographers Can Make Money without Copyright, by Lorin Partain
• Tom Palmer, Technological Alternatives to Patents and Copyrights
• The Creator-Endorsed Mark as an Alternative to Copyright
• Funding for Creation and Innovation in an IP-Free World
• Would the Absence of Copyright Laws Significantly Affect the Quality and Quantity of Literary Output?, Julio H. Cole
• Power to the Pixel 2009: Nina Paley (Youtube: A FREE DISTRIBUTION CASE STUDY: SITA SINGS THE BLUES: If its free, how do you make money? Seven months after the Copyleft release of her animated musical feature Sita Sings the Blues, Nina Paley presents the second round of hard data from the project. The more the audience freely shares the film, the more they purchase DVDs, theatre admissions and merchandise. See the ££ numbers that prove it.)
  • See also Paley’s interview on FreeTalk Live on 7/28/10 (last 20 minutes or so);
  • Understanding Free Content; and
  • What’s Stopping You? (Competition as free market research)
• Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion’s free culture (TED Talk)
• Flattr, “a social micropayment platform that lets you show love for the things you like.”
• Mike Masnick, TechDirt, on “pay what you want” systems: Pay What You Want Works Much Better With A Charity Component
• “An Alternative Information Economy” section of Are “Intellectual Property Rights” Justified? (2000), by Markus Krummenacker
• Boldrin and Levine Against Intellectual Monopoly

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